Inside Asian Gaming

December 2013 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 15 COVER STORY says Justine Chien, who heads a Sydney based tour agency called Golden Dragon Travel. “They’ve all been to Macau already. They want to see the different casinos of the world.” China is also the second-largest of Queensland’s international feeder markets (again, after New Zealand). Forty-six percent of the 643,000 Chinese who visited Australia over the last year visitedQueensland. It’s why the state led Australia in international visitor growth, with spending by foreign tourists up 4% to $4 billion and accounting for 27% of total visitor expenditure. Singapore delivered the most growth proportionately at 41%, followed by Indonesia at 32%. India was up 20%. The Chinese market grew 24% year on year, four times the rate of growth in overseas visitation as a whole. They spent more than $535 million in the state, and that was up 27%. Significantly, and in contrast to the nation as a whole, more than 80% came for holiday purposes. Nationally, it was 55%. The government’s Tourism and Events Queensland is responding with the addition of a representative in Beijing and an expanded presence in Shanghai, a representative for Jakarta, and a Southeast Asia “hub” office is planned for Singapore with oversight of an expanded presence in India. “This pillar of the Queensland economy,” as tourism is portrayed by Jann Stuckey, the minister for the sector, could well be the deciding factor in whether Mr Newman and the LNP make good on their pledge to reinvigorate the state economy. They also know that breaking Labor’s traditional hold on the cities was the key to last year’s record-setting parliamentary win. Of the three regions targeted for large-scale resort gaming development—Brisbane, Gold Coast and Cairns—they took all but three legislative seats in Brisbane, and they took every seat in Gold Coast. China happens to be the largest source of international visitors to Gold Coast, the second-largest in the tropical north, where their numbers are up 45%, and third-largest in Brisbane, where their numbers are up 19%. The war Crown and Echo are waging for Brisbane has been nasty and public, as Sydney’s was. The lowlight to date has been Crown’s denial of Echo Chairman John O’Neill’s claim that a lunch aboard Mr Packer’s yacht in March had been served with an offer by Mr Packer to lay off Brisbane in exchange for a free hand on Darling Harbour. Crown would be approved in Sydney a few months later, as it turned out, and certainly by that day in July when Mr Packer walked onto the soundstage of “Financial Review Sunday” the prospects for both had changed radically. “It will be interesting to see where Premier Newman ends up on the ideological question of competition,” he said, appearing to challenge Queensland on his Brisbane bid. Or he was just being cagey, because Mr Newman believes the state can support at least three more casinos. “In the end,” he has said, “there could be up to seven.” “The natural attractions are magnificent, but people also want man-made attractions. If you look at the biggest tourism success stories in the world they’re man-made attractions. People do not want to spend all of their holidays looking at Ayers Rock.” James Packer , chairman, Crown Resorts want man-made attractions. If you look at the biggest tourism success stories in the world they’re man-made attractions. People do not want to spend all of their holidays looking at Ayers Rock.” Certainly, the ones coming from China don’t. They’re decidedly more interested in baccarat than koala bears or kangaroos. Their per capita casino spend per trip to Australia—$506 on average for the year ended March—exceeds all other nationalities by far. Singapore is second at $400, Hong Kong third at $390. “Whether they gamble or not, casinos are one of the prize attractions [for them],”