Inside Asian Gaming

45 August 2013 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS Jamaica Sets New Deadline for Casino Bids Jamaica has extended to November the deadline for developers interested in submitting proposals for integrated resorts on the Caribbean island nation. An exact date hadn’t been publicized, as of this writing. The previous deadline was 30th September. Three licenses are open for bid for casinos with hotels of at least 2,000 rooms. They will be able to offer both slot machines and table games with revenue taxed at 10%. Applicants must submit a formal business plan and be able to clearly show funding commitments. The subsequent review process is expected to take about four months with winning bidders announced in early to mid-2014. The government so far hasn’t identified any bids or expressions of interest so it isn’t known if any major operators are involved. A project known as Harmony Cove, a joint venture between the government and Tavistock Group priced at US$800 million, is reported to be progressing on the island’s northern coast with plans calling for a luxury hotel, three golf courses, a water park and dining and retail attractions. The market currently consists of small venues mostly in the capital of Kingston operating machine games only. Cameron Promises ‘Proper Look’ at FOBTs UK Prime Minister David Cameron says he will consider whether to support restrictions on casino-style electronic table games in betting shops. Mr Cameron said he has been lobbied by MPs on all sides and stated, “I do think it is worth having a proper look at this issue, to see what we can do to make sure that, yes, we have bookmakers that are not over-regulated, but, on the other hand, a fair approach and a decent approach that prevents problem gambling.” Adrian Parkinson of the Campaign for Fairer Gambling, a grassroots group that opposes the devices, said, “It was a pretty vague answer, but at least it’s on his agenda.” Mr Cameron made the statement in response to a recent query from Labour MP TomWatson during Prime Minister’s Questions. Mr Watson has added his voice to a growing chorus of critics of the fixed- odds betting terminals, as they’re known, which can accept stakes up to £100 and have transformed the “local bookies” into “High Street digital casinos,” as he put it. He called on the government to follow Ireland’s example by banning them. FOBTs have fueled a boom in betting shops in cities and towns across Britain, accounting for nearly half of the largest bookmakers’ annual profits despite being limited to four terminals per shop. Opponents say the machines are highly addictive and lead to crime and poverty. Bookmakers contend there is no hard evidence to support that but have promised a new code of conduct to allow players to limit their own bets. The issue has also been taken up by a number of MPs concerned about the proliferation of bookmakers in their constituencies, particularly in poorer areas. The Liberal Democrats have included it in their party paltform, backing calls to give local councils the power to limit the number of betting shops in their areas. An investigation is under way by the Responsible Gambling Trust into the potential harms, and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has promised to review the results of that study. In the meantime, Culture Secretary Maria Miller has ruled out calls to dramatically reduce the stakes and prizes on the machines. Vegas Struggles To Boost Air Traffic More than 3.4 million passengers passed through Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport in September, a 1.2% increase over September 2012. But the city continues to struggle to achieve meaningful gains in air travelers. Year to date, the 31.5 million people who arrived or departed by air represented a gain of only 0.1% over the first nine months of 2012. Not surprisingly, visitor totals have stagnated along with hotel room rates and occupancy. But September was an improvement, considering that air traffic had dropped in nine of the previous 12 months. A report in the Las Vegas Review-Journal showed Southwest Airlines, the market leader, posting a 4% increase in passengers after a couple of down months. Southwest has trimmed its schedule slightly, but it is servicing more seats than a year ago. No. 2 Delta was up 13.7%, mostly by redistributing flights from regional jets to its main fleet. Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air was down 1%. Discount airline Spirit boosted its count by 20.1%, the best performance among domestic carriers. International passengers were up 2.4% in September. British Airways, Panama’s Copa, Arkefly of the Netherlands and Korean Airlines all increased their passenger totals by more than 20% with more flights and larger planes. Canada’s WestJet, the international leader with one-third of McCarran’s foreign traffic, was up 3.6%. Conversely, Virgin Atlantic was down 1.8%. Mexico’s Volaris was down 8.7%. Flights currently loaded into reservation systems show an average of 2.3% more seats per month through January, with international running slightly ahead. David Cameron