Inside Asian Gaming

July 2013 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 7 COVER STORY to Crown’s flagship resort casino, Crown Melbourne, the most popular attraction in Australia, according to figures compiled by Euromonitor International , and this is significant in light of the “high-spending, particularly high-yield international visitors, predominantly from China” which the Taskforce identified as NSW’s “key target market”. Actually, casinos are the country’s second- and third-most popular attractions, too, if Euromonitor ’s numbers are to be believed. Crown rival Echo Entertainment’s Jupiters Gold Coast in the state of Queensland booked 10.6 million visits in 2010. Echo’s monopoly casino in New South Wales, The Star, which sits on a cove of Darling Harbour within sight of Barangaroo, had 9 million. (The Sydney Opera House was back there somewhere at a mere 7 million.) But Sydney has infrastructure problems. Mainly, it needs more quality hotel rooms. The city is running at better than 86%occupancy (“very high” by world standards, the Taskforce’s report notes), and average rates exceed $200 a night. It’s estimated that between 5,000 and 8,900 more rooms will be needed by 2020 to meet visitor demand. It’s not a problem that is Sydney’s alone. The last decade has seen Australia drop from the world’s No. 3 destination for luxury travelers to No. 7, according to the Hurun Report , a Shanghai-based magazine that tracks trends among China’s burgeoning wealth class. “My overall take is that I don’t think the Australian tourist industry in general has put much effort into the luxury consumer,”said Hurun ’s Editor Rupert Hoogewerf in a recent interview with Australia’s Fairfax Media. “Ten years ago it was the preferred destination for Chinese tourists, full stop. But what’s happened, as other countries have come up, Australia has dropped down the list for luxury travel. I have not seen any events or media (advertising and marketing) from Australia that is targeting the luxury consumer. Basically they have coasted very nicely. It may not mean things are not happening, but they are on such a low-key profile compared to Singapore, which is all over China and targeting the top-end spenders.” And there is this from a June 2012 report by Allen Consulting Group, which Crown hired to help the company make its case for Crown Sydney with the state: Source: Tourism Economics (Tourism Decision Metrics) Trend of Top 5 Outbound Destinations from China Hong Kong 18,000 16,000 14,000 12,000 10,000 8,000 6,000 4,000 2,000 0 Outbound Travellers (000s) Macau South Korea Taiwan Thailand Australia Note: 2012 is a forecast value 2001 2012 Australia Visitor Arrivals from China and Hong Kong Arrivals % Change % Change Market (Year End (Year End (Three months to March 2013) March 2013) March 2013) China 659,400 17.5% 16.6% Hong Kong 183,400 7.8% 14.5% Average Annual Growth in TIEV a for Australia’s Top 10 Inbound Markets by Value, 2001-2011 Japan United States of America (includes Hawaii) United Kingdom Germany Total AAGR b (%) Singapore New Zealand South Korea Malaysia India -10.0 -5.0 0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 China (excludes SARs and Taiwan Province) Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Overseas Arrivals and Departures a Total Inbound Economic Value, (or tourism exports), b Average Annual Growth Rate