Sands Resorts Macao remains one of the most comprehensive destinations in Asia-Pacific. Stephanie Tanpure, Vice President of Sales, Sands China Ltd. who joined Sands China Ltd. in September 2010 plays an instrumental role in building the global Sands Resorts Macao brand presence. She leads a team of 80 in Macao, Hong Kong and seven regional offices across Asia-Pacific and the US where she guides the sales team to success as Asia’s largest integrated resort with close to 13,000 hotel rooms. On her visit to India, the VP chatted with LuxuryLaunches on wooing Indian travellers, the brand’s targets, the importance of India as a market and more.
Luxurylaunches: What are the kind of offerings you’ll are dishing out to woo Indian travellers?
Stephanie Tanpure: We’ve had a very exciting year. We celebrated Venetian’s 10th year anniversary and with that, we have completed the full refurbishment of all 3,000 suites. That is a very interesting offering, particularly for Indian guests who have been with us before. We have also opened our second famed property- The Parisian Macao. It is a new-generation Venetian. It is a very romantic property and is pretty family-oriented too. Indian being one of our top five markets, we are constantly figuring out what the market really wants. Suites are something very popular and we have been able to create a new suite category- The Champagne suite which is stunning. We also continue to strengthen our food and beverage offerings. We’re going to be bringing in another two restaurants to the table. We’re forever looking to enhance our property with attractions and entertainment.
How do you position Sands Resorts? As a business resort or a family-oriented one?
It’s a bit of a two-prong approach. We are popular in the leisure family market as well as corporates. We see a lot of Indians who holiday in the Diwali season. It caters to families in a big way. We have specialty family suites. There is a fabulous family show which we host at our property in the evenings and lots of other family-friendly entertainment options. We have a character-parade for the kids. We also have live role-play park for children.
What is the brand’s key differentiator as against others?
We have seven complementing hotels, all under one roof. We have 150 restaurants, 850 shops and lots of family-friendly activities in store for our guests which make the hotels a destination in themselves.
Tell us about the importance of India as a market?
We have seen fabulous growth for Macao as a country. In 2017, we saw 7.9% growth on visitor arrival y-o-y and see 100,000 visitors from India which is fabulous.
Going forward, what would be your targets and focus areas?
We want to continue to grow across the market space. India is a huge market and want to continue growing the family market. If we align to the growth we’re seeing currently, it will be great.
