Inside Asian Gaming

June 2013 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 19 COVER STORY services—since 2010 and the subsequent appreciation of the local currency, the casinos do appear to have made at least some contribution. Gaming is increasingly mentioned as one of the Lion City’s emerging industries, along with health care, education, information and communications technology and media. The Singapore dollar has been gently trending down over the past two months, reaching S$1=US$0.79 at the end of May. The Singapore dollar’s dip reflects a mild economic slowdown, with GDP having contracted 0.6% year on year in the first quarter compared to a 1.5% increase in the fourth quarter of 2012. According to the most recent estimates provided by Singapore’s Trade and Industry Ministry, the weak 1Q economic performance was mainly the result of a contraction in the manufacturing sector, particularly within the biomedical segment. Manufacturing, which accounts for one-quarter of GDP, declined 6.5% year on year. Meanwhile, the services sector, which accounts for well over 70% of GDP and includes finance, gaming and tourism, grew 1.2% year on year. The Singapore government’s primary proclaimed objective in legalizing casinos through the passage of the Casino Control Act in 2006 was to boost the Lion City’s flagging tourism industry. The two IRs built around the casinos have delivered on that goal. The casino at RWS has developed a string of big-budget family-friend attractions, including a Universal Studios theme park and the world’s largest indoor aquarium. MBS, meanwhile, is an instantly recognizable structure that has come to define the Singapore skyline for many people. As one Singapore-based gaming analyst told Inside Asian Gaming , “It is very much an iconic attraction for people coming from all around the world. When you’re in the airport bookshops looking at the books on Singapore, I’d say 70% of them have Marina Bay Sands on the front cover.” Singapore’s tourist arrivals surged 20% year on year in 2010 to a record 11.6 million, following declines of 2% in 2008 and 4% in 2009 (notably, as the tourism slump reached its nadir in 2009, the local currency briefly traded below S$1=US$0.65). And while the casinos can’t take all the credit for the revival of Singapore’s tourism industry that has followed in the wake of their opening, the IRs undeniably serve as magnets for foreign visitors and have continued investing in and unveiling new attractions, helping visitor arrivals grow a further 13% in 2011 to 13.2 million and 9% in 2012 to 14.4 million. The IRs have also benefited from the tourist influx of the past three years. While Resorts World saw gaming revenue slump in the first quarter on the back of a very low VIP win rate, non-gaming revenue rose 17% year on year, with the recently unveiled Marine Life Park attracting 7,400 visitors a day, and Universal Studios Singapore recording average daily visitation of 8,400. The property’s hotels had a 92% occupancy rate in the quarter at an average room rate of S$404. At Marina Bay Sands, the hotel and shoppingmall segments of the property saw year-on-year revenue growth of 9.7% and 6.7%, respectively, with room occupancy at 98.5% and the average daily room rate climbing to US$378 (S$472). Although the Singapore Tourism Board is warning of an impending decline in arrivals, it appears both Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa have established themselves as preferred destinations for better-heeled visitors to the city and especially those seeking premium dining and entertainment experiences. The casino at Resorts World Sentosa has developed a string of big-budget family-friend attractions, including a Universal Studios theme park and the world’s largest indoor aquarium. At Marina Bay Sands, the hotel and shopping mall segments of the property saw year-on-year revenue growth of 9.7% and 6.7%, respectively.