DATELINE GLOBAL february2011
QUEENSLAND QUOTIENT T
Tabcorp investing A$1.5 billion in casino resort upgrades
abcorp has announced plans to upgrade and expand its three properties in Queensland,
Australia. The investment of A$625 million (US$622 million) is more than three times the orig- inally announced A$175 million for the projects. The move comes as Tabcorp prepares to sepa-
rate its casino division from its betting and non- casino gaming machine activities in 2011. Capital expenditure will begin after the split and take place over a six-year period. Jupiters on the Gold Coast will receive A$350
million for multiple projects, including a new 200- room, five-star boutique hotel. The casino floor will be expanded to accommodate its share of additional tables and slots, concessions agreed with the Queensland government to help pay for the invest- ment in the properties. In all, Tabcorp can place another 500 slot machines and 50 tables spread over the three casinos. Currently, the company holds a total of 3,136 gaming machine licenses and 265 table licenses. Jupiters Gold Coast will also receive new VIP
gaming facilities, a spa and ultra pool, a beach club on the ocean, restaurants, bars and a nightlife venue, and an expanded and refurbished ballroom. Treasury in Brisbane is getting A$260 million to create what Tabcorp is calling a “metropolitan
Tabcorp’s Jupiters casino Queensland
casino destination.” A new 400-room, five-star hotel will join the existing lodging and host all future VIP gaming action. A range of improvements and new addi- tions similar to those at Jupiters Gold Coast are also planned. The final A$15 million will be spent at Jupiters
Townsville to upgrade existing facilities and increase space to hold major events in the region. Hotel suites and premium gaming facilities will be upgraded, and meeting and ballroom space expanded. The three properties currently receive 9 million visi-
tors each year. Tabcorp expects that number to increase significantly when the upgrades are completed.
No More Thunder Thunderbird Resorts sells Guatemala operation
I
nternational casino operator Thunderbird Resorts has entered into an agreement to transfer its operations in Guatemala to a group controlled by former Thunderbird employees. Thunderbird entered the Guatemalan market in 1997 and
owns and operates two video lottery parlors in Guatemala City. Terms of the sale are a promissory note of about $2.1 million
and the assumption of $464,000 of debt. Installments will be paid over a six-year period. Thunderbird has previously written down all of its Guatemala
investment. Management believes that efforts to liquidate the assets in Guatemala would bring less revenue to the company than will this transaction.
The Thunderbird Resort in Rizal, Guatemala
Double Down T
in Damascus Syria casino opens, future in doubt
he Ocean Club in Damascus debuted on Christmas Eve and capped its first week with a
New Year’s Eve party for which guests paid £300 a head, according to the U.K.’s Guardian. The owner of the casino is Khaled Houboubati,
reports website
thenational.ae. His father, Tawfiq Houboubati, ran three casinos in Syria during the 1970s, including one where the Ocean Club now stands. The club is near the Damascus airport, about 15 minutes from the city center. Absent from the casino’s exterior are flashy signs.
The owner is keeping a low profile in this nation where the population is 90 percent Muslim. However, the business has already been noticed by Mohammad Habash, a well-known Islamic scholar and member of Syria’s national parliament. “If it is true that there is a casino and gambling,
then we are responsible to struggle against such activi- ty,” Habash told
thenational.ae. Habash said that a formal query about the activi-
ties of the Ocean Club would be tabled in Parliament. Under Syrian parliamentary rules, an answer must be provided within 30 days. If gambling has taken place at the Ocean Club, Habash said he would ask that it be forcibly closed. “We have licenses for restaurants and nightclubs,
but there are no licenses for casinos or gambling,” said Habash. “So we consider this to be outside of the law.”
Treasure in the Bahamas? Grand Bahama casino improvements showing results
Turner, general manager. Turner is the first Bahamian to hold that position at a casino in the country. He replaced Eddie Llambias, the first appointed general manager of the property. Treasure Bay took over the casino’s operations in March 2010 from Isle of Capri. Since
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then, the company overhauled its slot operations with new machines and software. “We are at the point now where we are totally coinless, and we only issue tickets from
the slot machines,” Turner said. In addition, the casino installed new table games “and the ever-famous wheel of fortune,” Turner said. “We resurrected that wheel in July of last year.” The company also opened The Cove restaurant, which is popular among locals. “The
Cove has done a lot in the last year for the local public where we just tried to give the public something else to do or somewhere else to go in the comfort of the casino and to be safe at the same time,” Turner said. Last September, the casino’s marketing department invited potential customers to
Treasure Bay, offering incentives including free instant slot credits and free room nights at the Our Lucaya Resort. The program cost $28,000. Turner said the company will continue to invest in upgrades at the local facility, and ulti- mately hopes to revive the Bahamas’ image as a premier gambling destination.
www.ggbmagazine.com • February 2011 7
ecent renovations at Treasure Bay Casino in Grand Bahama are showing some initial returns on investment, but it still is too early to measure the overall impact, said Craig
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