Gaming giant MGM Mirage, which runs its non-gaming hospitality business under MGM Mirage Hospitality, would like to have its first property open in Mumbai, by 2013-14.
The company is at the advanced stage of finalising the deal and will make the announcement in the second quarter of this year.
“We will have a number of deals announced this year. We are focussing on all gateway cities such as Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kerala, Goa and Jaipur, but we would like to have our first property in Mumbai,” said Michael Evans, executive vice president, global development, MGM Mirage Hospitality.
MGM is planning to introduce three luxury brands – Bellagio, MGM Grand and Skylofts, into India. There could be one or more properties for each brand that they are going to open here. Ballagio, said Evans, is a high standard luxury brand whereas MGM is a slightly lower level luxury brand. The Skylofts is more of a boutique hotel. For Bellagio, it is looking at a 250-to-350 room property; the MGM brand typically has 350-to-500 rooms.
MGM is also looking to explore gaming opportunities in India. “There are definite interests on our part to explore gaming opportunities in India. Our main focus is on developing hotels under the brands in the non-gaming segment, but as gaming opportunities arrive, we will look at them on an opportunistic basis. We will consider gaming opportunities in Goa and other parts of India,” Evans added.
