102 Gaming
class theme park with a casino and BT in pubs. That casino is hard to get to, pay a casino entry tax to the govern-
[business travel] destination. The key is but it still does well.” ment of S$100 (MOP563) per day or
the three things getting together.” Singaporeans are among the re- S$2000 per year but that’s not expected
Of the three, the Universal Studios gion’s richest people, with house- to curtail the market substantially.
theme park at Resorts World Sentosa is hold incomes around US$50,000 A government survey found more
the wild card. (MOP400,240), and 80 percent live in than half of Singaporeans already gam-
“It can’t and shouldn’t be just an- government-subsidized Housing Devel- ble – on local lotteries, horse racing,
other Universal Studios. It should be opment Board flats. cruise ships, overseas casinos, or mah-
something globally unique to really “Because of subsidized housing, jongg – and they’re likely to expand the
create the maximize draw and have the amount of disposable income is habit at the IRs.
longevity,” hotel and leisure consultant pretty high,” nightlife mogul Dennis “We expect the local mass market
Horwath Asia Pacific Managing Direc- Foo says. will contribute 40 percent of [gaming]
tor Robert Hecker says. Singapore residents will have to revenues,” CLSA Head of Asian Gaming
“Universal Studios Singapore will
be bigger and have the newest attrac-
tions compared with its other proper-
ties,” University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Singapore Dean Dr Andy Nazarechuk
says.
“That difference will play a major
role in defining Universal Studios Sin-
gapore.”
“Universal Studios has to be suc-
cessful for it to be a world-class expe-
rience,” a top regional consultant who
requested anonymity says.
“If it’s a squib like Disneyland
Hong Kong, it won’t be.”
Universal Studios’ limited one-
week sneak preview of its grounds last
month didn’t answer the question.
The local market
“The key is local market,” says a local
hospitality executive who requested an-
onymity. “You’ve got 5 million people
in a small space. Sydney has one ca-
sino with 4.5 million people plus slots
March 2010
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140