Inside Asian Gaming

International Briefs Harrah’s Requests Slovenia Liberalization Plans for a US$1 billion resort casino in Slovenia have taken a step toward reality amid reports that lawmakers in the country are con- sidering lowering the tax on gambling win and relaxing ownership restrictions. Las Vegas-based casino giant Harrah’s Entertainment re- quested the changes as conditions for proceeding with the massive development in the city of Nova Gorica on the Italian border in part- nership with HIT Group, Slovenia’s largest casino operator. The Caesars-branded property would be one of Europe’s larg- est and most extensive, with 2,000 gambling machines, table games, 1,500 hotel rooms, restaurants, bars, a spa and convention and meet- ing facilities. Located within driving distance of Trieste and Venice in an area already favored by large numbers of tourists from Italy, the casino could attract more than 4 million visitors a year, according to Harrah’s projections, and upwards of 90% of them are expected to come from abroad. “We believe Europe is an excellent opportunity to bring a destina- tion to a market that has high population and discretionary money,” said Jan Jones, Harrah’s senior vice president of government relations. “We intend for the project to serve as the tourist and entertainment center for the region,” said HIT CEO Niko Trost. The problems is, Harrah’s wants 49%of the project, while current law permits foreign companies nomore than 20% ownership,and the country’s 60% tax on revenues is too high for Harrah’s. Lawmakers have agreed to take up the issues. “The government has a desire to see an increase in tourism,” Jones recently told the Las Vegas Review-Journal . “They also realize they need partnerships to realize that goal.” She said the resort would take about 30 months to complete if a deal can be struck.About 4,500 people would be employed in the con- struction phase. About 3,200 jobs would be provided on opening. HIT Group, which is partially owned by government entities, op- erates seven of the country’s 18 casinos, among them the 1,008-slot Hotel Casino Perla in Nova Gorica, and casinos in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Brown Affirms Opposition to ‘Super Casinos’ Is the super casino “dead in the water?” It looked that way last month. It had long been surmised that Gordon Brown disagreed with his predecessor about the economic benefits, not to mention the social impacts, of new large-scale casino development in the country, and that appeared to be borne out as the new prime minister indicated in the House of Commons that cities might want to look elsewhere to regenerate areas in need. In response to a question from fellow Labour MP Andy Reed about the proposed regional casino and its 1,250 unlimited-prize slot machines and the dangers of gambling addiction, Brown re- ferred Reed to a much-anticipated nationwide prevalence study due for release next month—which also happens to be when most fell as higher revenue from operations in Las Vegas and Macau was offset by higher costs. The company said net income fell to US$34.4 million, or 10 cents per share, from US$109.3 million, or 31 cents per share, a year earlier. LVS’ expenses have risen sharply ahead of casino openings in Ma- cau, Singapore and the US. Excluding special items, the company earned 23 cents per share, compared with the average Wall Street forecast of 25 cents per share. Net revenue rose to US$612.9million fromUS$517.0million a year earlier as Las Vegas casino revenue grew by nearly 20% to US$85.4 million and Macau casino revenue rose nearly 22% to US$373.5 mil- lion. Revenues from hotels, restaurants and retail also were strong. Executives said their short-term focus is getting the Venetian Macau up and running, as LVS develops further casinos, condomini- ums, high-end hotels, shopping malls and entertainment venues along the Cotai Strip. 42