Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING FEBRUARY 2018 20 ASX-listed Silver Heritage Group finally launched hotel and casino operations at its new Tiger Palace Resort Bhairahawa in late 2017, having survived the 2015 earthquake, a fuel blockade on the Nepal-India border and an AU$19 million (US$14.4 million) funding shortage as a result of the delays. IAG spoke to Silver Heritage Managing Director and CEO Mike Bolsover about the Nepal-based project. FEATURE IN FOCUS By Ben Blaschke Climbing the mountain operational phase now following the successful build, receiving a 5-star rating and the licensing of the resort, hotel and casino respectively in the last four months of 2017. We are now right back into managing gaming operations where we have a long and successful track record and deep expertise. BB: You opened the hotel in September and launched casino operations in late December. What sort of numbers have you been seeing through the property over these first few months?  MB: We had a full car park on the third night of operations, which was New Year’s Eve, and 412 guests. The early feedback has been Ben Blaschke: How does it feel to finally have Tiger Palace up and running after such a long journey? Mike Bolsover: In one word, fantastic. We have a great team and we have had tremendous support from the shareholder base – old and new – to get us to this stage. It has indeed been a lengthy journey with the various events in Nepal – the tragic earthquake in 2015, the new constitution later that year and the related fuel crisis, plus the intensity of the front-door IPO process in Australia in 2016. Personally, on the home front my wife Rebecca and I have had three children since the company purchased the first parcel of land in 2014! But there is no time to rest. This is the start of the