Inside Asian Gaming

October 2013 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 13 COVER STORY potentially making it one of the most sought after destinations in South Asia.” Just what the Rajapaksa brothers want to hear, and both projects have been granted 10-year tax holidays (though not on gaming revenue) as part of a package of incentives crafted to attract more investments of a similar scale and sweetened with the promise of speedy approvals and long-term leases and/or outright sales in exchange for cash commitments up front and agreements to develop hotels. What remains for JKH as of this writing is to secure a partner to manage the all- important gaming side. This of course is key and not least because an investment in luxury product on this scale will need a lot of roulette and baccarat and blackjack tables to subsidize it. Hotel occupancy in Colombo hovers around the mid-60s (it’s lower in the countryside), and the government has intervened more than once to prop up room rates, a strategy that has backfired somewhat, according to HVS, steering tour group and MICE bookings away from the capital and into outlying areas. For obvious reasons the government would like Keells to tie up with a leading Western name, but the market lacks a comprehensive regulatory framework capable of passing the muster of most Western jurisdictions. Keells at least has reputation going for it. “I certainly think they will probably be a better fit for at least most of the casino companies coming out of the West,” says Mr Thadani. Keeping the Peace India is expected to send 50 million tourists out into the world by 2020, which finds Sri Lanka at about 33 miles at the narrowest point of the Palk Strait from the southeastern tip of the subcontinent rather ideally situated. The island derived 17.5% of its 1 million tourist arrivals last year from India, its largest feeder market. Figures released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority for August show Indian arrivals up 4.9% through the first eight months of 2013 and tracking at 16% of total arrivals, which are up 14.3% over the same period last year. This is impressive, but if it continues the market won’t get to this year’s target of 1.3 million arrivals, and it will be the first time that has happened since the end of the civil war, and it will happen in spite of A “Sri Lanka Shines in Beijing” promotion at the end of August brought a high-level delegation from the island to the Chinese capital for several days and resulted in contracts for newspaper and radio spots and ads on billboards and buses and in train stations around the city. Sri Lanka — By the Numbers Source: Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority Tourist Arrivals Targets & Actual Tourist Arrivals 2500000 2000000 1500000 1000000 500000 0 2009 3000000 Targets Actual 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Top Ten Markets as at end of June 2013 Russia 15,869 China 16,582 U.S.A. 16,736 Australia 22,387 Middle East 24, 497 Maldives 27,339 France 30,049 Germany 36, 700 UK 55,286 India 83,981