Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | April 2009 18 Talking Heads C asino equipment supplier TCS JOHNHUXLEY opened its Singapore office last year ahead of the opening of the city-state’s first casinos. Las Vegas Sands Corp is scheduled to open the Marina Bay Sands integrated resort (IR) in December this year, followed by Genting Group’s Resorts World at Sentosa in the first quarter of 2010. Inside Asian Gaming spoke to Tristan Sjöberg, TCS JOHNHUXLEY’s managing director for Asia, about the prospects for Singapore’s IRs. I AG: Why did you choose Singapore as your Southeast Asian base [outside of Macau]? Mr Sjöberg: It’s a very good business environment to be in. The infrastructure is good and they welcome foreign direct investment. Initially it was set up to service the Southeast Asian market of Malaysia, Singapore and also the Thai satellite countries, such as Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar. What about the labour situation in Singapore? Obviously in Macau it’s difficult to find technical staff? That’s the good thing about Singapore. There’s a large talent pool here and it’s relatively easy to employ technical staff, or sales staff. The staffing issue so far has been much easier than we have experienced in Macau. The consensus seems to be that Singapore will never measure up to Macau in terms of gambling revenue. How do you see Singapore shaping up once the two integrated resorts are open for business? I appreciate that view, but I think it might not be very fair to Singapore. I’ll tell you why. Of course Singapore will never measure up in terms of total gaming revenue as Macau, where there are 31 casinos and growing— on June 1st City of Dreams will open, and there’s going to be more casinos in the future. Singapore will only have two casinos [with no further licenses to be granted for 20 years], so it will not be able to measure up, for sure, with Macau. But it’s not trying to. The Singapore government sees the casino resorts as an integral part of getting tourists to the city, because Singapore has been always the bridesmaid, never the bride. It’s the perennial stopover city to Australia or to go to a beach resort, or just as a business location. You go there for business, then you move on somewhere else. The Singapore government is now trying to change that, and trying tomake it a destination in its own right, and casinos are an integral part of that. They call them IRs—integrated resorts. Having one which focuses on the business clientele in Marina Bay and one that focuses on the more family-oriented resort crowd on Sentosa. I think that’s a very good plan, and I applaud the Singapore government for taking that stance. Will it take any customers away from Macau? I think it will actually. I qualify that by sayingwe’re still waiting to hear what exactly the Singapore government will require in terms of keeping track of the players. You might get high rollers from mainland China, theVIP customers. Theymight prefer to go to Singapore to gamble as opposed to Macau. Because if they go to Macau, it’s more obvious what they’re going for? Yes, it is. It’s obvious what they’re going for. The shopping in Macau is also not as good as in Singapore. If they [mainland Chinese high rollers] bring their wives, the wives might want to do more shopping. It’s easier for a mainland Chinese to get a12 month multiple entry visa to Singapore. All you basically need to do is show that you’re employed, and you have money for a return ticket. So for mainland Chinese VIP players, it will be very easy to nip over to Singapore. Singing the Lion City’s Praises Tristan Sjöberg, TCS JOHNHUXLEY’s managing director for Asia, shares his views on the region’s next big gaming destination Tristan Sjöberg