Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | September 2012 58 G azing at the three Marina Bay Sands towers that have now become a Singapore icon, it’s hard to believe that the city-state’s two casinos are only just over two years old. It has become difficult to imagine a Singapore without Resorts World Sentosa and Marina Bay Sands. The two integratedresortshaveburrowedthemselves deeply into the island nation’s social and economic fabric—the restaurants, hotels and postcard-perfect pictures ubiquitous for locals and visitors alike—and in a very short time they have become household names around the region. From a business perspective, the two resorts have been a resounding success. Singapore has now overtaken Las Vegas in profitability and is second only to Macau globally. And not only have the casinos been pulling solid numbers onto the gaming floor—bothmass-market andVIP—but hotel occupancy has been phenomenal, as well as patronage of the restaurants and malls. But while the two operators—Genting and Las Vegas Sands Corp—have been broadly successful in their ventures, they have followed different paths to growth and Feature Slugging It Out in Singapore The runaway growth of the early days may be a thing of the past in the world’s second most profitable casino market, but the two-horse race in the Lion City is getting more interesting all the time The monolithic three towers of its [Marina Bay Sands] hotel with the cantilevered Skypark perched on top have already surpassed the Merlion as the city’s most recognizable icon.