ASIA & OCEANIA
Vietnam Trials Locals Casino Play Starting the process of redefining its gaming industry the Vietnamese
government is dropping its ban on citizens entering two casinos, one in Van Don and another in Phu Quoc, as part of a three-year trial
Tree year trial to allow locals to play in domestic casinos could spark new interest from investors and operators in the country
VIETNAM LEGISLATION
MALAYSIA – Malaysian company Podiumspot Capital Group has started work on what it says will be the world’s largest casino cruise ship, called the Crusino. It is expected to take three years to build. Crusino will measures 295m in length and 36m in width and will accommodate up to 3,200 passengers.
T. Leonard, the CEO of Podiumspot said: “The construction cost is estimated about US$560m and will be either carried out at shipyards in China or Vietnam. The project is undertaken by Podiumspot, which is a company incorporated in Malaysia and are the owners of Crusino Cruise Services. A host of other facilities will also be available on Crusino and includes a swimming pool, jacuzzi, restaurants, cafés, bars, shopping outlets, a theatre, a library, a spa, sauna and a fitness centre.
Crusino is scheduled to embark on its maiden voyage in April 2020. The casino, which claims to be the largest at sea, will be housed on two special decks, will comprise slots, table games, live games and sports betting. Each stateroom will come with a TV screen dedicated to playing live casino games from the comfort of the rooms.
CHINA – Despite China’s crackdown on casino promotional teams working in mainland China, a host of Macau’s operators are now believed to have resumed their marketing efforts. Crown Resorts saw 17 employees arrested in October last year for alleged breaches in sales and marketing for casino activities in China.
However Galaxy Entertainment, Las Vegas Sands and MGM Grand have all resumed their marketing efforts in China.
Operators are allowed to promote if the focus is on non-gaming activities such as theme parks, tourist attractions and restaurants.
INDIA – The third casino in the Indian state of Sikkim was opened on January 14, 2017 by local operator, Delta Corp, with guests now able to visit the Casino Deltin Denzong Gangtok, in the capital of the state.
The opening ceremony was attended by the Minister of Civil Aviation Hugueney Gyatso, the Minister of Culture and Heritage GM Gurung. Delta Corp received the license for the casino six months prior to the opening. The company operates several gambling establishments in Goa - the first Indian state to allow some form of casino games. After the company announced the construction of Casino Deltin Denzong, the value of its shares significantly increased .
P34 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE /
247.COM
Government green lights casino entry so that Vietnamese citizens may be allowed to enter a new casino at the Van Don Special Administrative-Economic Zone in northern Quang Ninh province on a trial basis.
Te Vietnamese Prime Minister, Nguyen Xuân Phúc, explained in briefing with Quang Ninh authorities on December 22, that the government has green lit casino entry for Vietnamese citizens as part of a three-year trial at two casinos in the country. Te Politburo’s decision will allow Vietnamese people to enter a new casino at the Van Don Special Administrative-Economic Zone in northern Quang Ninh province and the Phu Quoc casino on a trial basis.
Te Ministry of Finance (MoF) in September said that local people should not be allowed to enter casinos, even though the country’s senior leadership had already given the green light to lifting the ban several years ago.
In its latest draft decree submitted last month to the government for approval, MoF insisted that
Paradise returns to profit ahead of its IR development
South Korea
South Korean operator Paradise Co bounced back in 2016 with GGR reaching KRW603.1bn (US $509m) for the 12 months ending December 31, 2016, marking a 6.2 per cent increase from 2015’s figures.
Paradise, who operates four of the 17 casinos in South Korea, reported a 7.2 per cent increase in table game revenue to KRW567.7bn whilst slots fell by 7.3 per cent to KRW36bn. Paradise operates the four small casinos; Walkerhill in Seoul, Incheon Casino at Incheon, Jeju Grand on Jeju Island, and Busan Casino in Busan.
Revenue in 2015 had fallen by 14.7 per cent on 2014’s figures.
only foreigners and Vietnamese with foreign passports should be allowed to gamble in casinos in Vietnam.
News of the government finally moving forward with gambling regulations for locals will revive hopes for both local business and investors. Figures from Nielsen released in May show that nearly 60 per cent of Vietnam’s population are under the age of 35 and the number of university graduates has increased by 60 per cent within the last decade. Boston Consulting Group (BCG) forecasts the population of the middle class and wealthy in Vietnam will more than double in the 2014-2020 period, from 12 million to 33 million.
Recent figures from the Ministry of Finance show that there are seven licensed casino businesses in Vietnam, but most are of small- scale with investment capital under $50m. Only two large-scale projects - Ho Tram Strip, with an investment of $4bn, which came into operation in 2013, and a project at the South Hoi An Resort in Quang Nam province - are still within large- scale investment plans.
Te last month of the year saw GGR increase by 10.3 per cent to KRW43.7bn. Te current year promises to be big for Paradise Group as it will open an integrated resort (IR), the first of its kind anywhere in Korea, China, and Japan, in partnership with Sega Sammy.
Paradise Chairman Phil-Lip Chun said: “Paradise City, Korea’s first large-scale comprehensive tourism resort scheduled to open in 2017, will be a milestone in the tourism industry of Korea. Now, we have an opportunity to move beyond a second advance and become a global player. To be prepared for such possibility, we are promoting innovation of corporate management to break out of the old paradigm and practices across the business structure, business methods, and corporate culture. With a vision of becoming Korea’s representative IR (Integrated Resort) by 2020 through such efforts.”
Tasmania
A Coalition of 42 church, union, council and community groups has called for the complete removal of poker machines from clubs and pubs in Tasmania. Among them, the Community Voice for Poker Reform coalition wants poker machines totally removed from pubs and clubs, a freeze on the number of machines in casinos and a $1 bet limit in those venues. It has proposed that the State Government funds a transition plan to wean venues off pokies revenue. Te group says poker machines take $200m a year from Tasmanians.
In its response to the inquiry, the Tasmanian Tourism Industry Council called on the State Government to leave poker machine licences as they were, or risk disrupting the viability of venues. It called for the Federal Hotels Group to be given licence extensions for its two casinos and a third casino licence to be issued to Mona.
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