Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming December 2014 12 Cover Story Mr Perera got his start in the gaming industry in 1987 with a slot machine assembling plant. “Then every week there were machines we couldn’t sell, so we started operating them on a rental basis,” he explains. Then slot machines were banned from 1991 to 1993 during a period of emergency rule established to cope with the Tamil insurgency. When it ended, “We started up the casinos,” Mr Perera says, “but without the machines. That’s how we’ve come to have our current three properties that contain mainly tables and relatively few slots.” Of his foreign casino clientele, “The Indians and Chinese dominate, each making up about 40%,” he says. “Then 4% are locals, and the balance is other nations.” He notes the rate of growth rate of the Chinese coming into Sri Lanka, terming it “huge,” and says, “China will rank quite heavily, and of course, with the new properties we expect to bring more tourists, including from the Middle East.” He does not, however, expect the Chinese market will overtake the Indian. Rather he believes they will remain about the same. Of the three planned resorts, John Keells’ Waterfront is the only one under construction. But the government is mindful of political and religious opposition to new casino licenses and isn’t issuing any, and that means Mr Perera holds the license for Waterfront’s casino. The terms of this arrangement have yet to be concluded, but current plans call for his MGM Colombo to be shut down when Waterfront opens and its license transferred there. “We have a mutual understanding, then we will finalize the legal binding probably after another three or four months,” he says. “Basically, we will hold the license, and we will formulate a methodology to come together. They will be providing the property, but will not handle operations and infrastructure on the front end of the building, but more on the service and back end.” The Queensbury’s design is still being fine-tuned under Michael Hong, lead designer of Las Vegas Strip icon Bellagio, and is expected to offer multiple ballrooms, a mini-convention center and a shopping mall in addition to the casino and luxury hotel. “It will take at least another six months to commit to the final proposal,” says Mr Perera, who takes a keen interest in architecture Mr Perera holds the gaming license for John Keells’ Waterfront, the only one of the three resort casinos slated for Colombo that is under construction. The exact terms of the arrangement have yet to be concluded, but Mr Perera says he’ll shut down his MGM Colombo once Waterfront opens and transfer its license there. Border Restoration Colombo’s skyline is getting a serious makeover, and nowhere will the new face of the city be more evident than at Beira Lake, located in the heart of the city and set to be its new high-end leisure and entertainment district Colombo’s Beira Lake was originally created by the Portuguese in 1521 as a natural defense to protect their fort from the locals (“beira” in Portuguese means border). Over the years, the lake has undergone many changes, with the Dutch, who ruled the coastal belt of the country from 1658 to 1796, using the attractive waterfront to stage military operations while the British, who ruled from 1796 to 1948, used it for economic purposes. Over the years, the lake and its surroundings fell into disrepair, with the accumulated pollution and detritus rendering it a malodorous eyesore. The lake has also shrunk considerably, from 165 hectares when originally built to a mere 65 hectares now. Fortunately, the city’s Urban Development Authority, with