Inside Asian Gaming

February 2015 inside asian gaming 25 Cover Story of the nation’s gateway airport. It’s spurred development in Manila, where four IRs with a combined price tag above $5 billion are creating the biggest casino cluster between Macau and Las Vegas, and Vietnam, where the government has authorized multibillion-dollar resorts and is considering lifting the ban on its citizens gambling at casinos within its borders, perhaps replacing the ban with a Singapore-style entry levy on locals. Singapore’s IRs have shined on many levels. “The IRs have enriched Singapore’s breadth of experiences, adding significant buzz and vibrancy to the tourism industry,” Singapore Tourism Board Executive Director for Arts, Entertainment and Integrated Resorts Carrie Kwik says. “Both the leisure and Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions [MICE] components of the IRs have been successful, clinching international accolades that have helped feature Singapore prominently.” “Singapore started a trend where you can have a casino and have law and order,” attorney and veteran gaming executive Terence Tay says. ‘GOOD CLEAN FUN’ “We’ve been fighting against this idea that we are a dull cultural desert, that everything is so tightly controlled and that policymakers and political leaders are anal about every single thing there is to be anal about,” says Institute of Policy Studies Senior Research Fellow Gillian Koh. “The IRs say Singapore is keeping up with the times. It affords its residents and people who want to visit good clean fun. It’s swish, it’s swanky and yet we’re able to keep out the worst of it, the bad stuff. It’s really trying to show that there’s a model of how you can have your cake and eat it almost.” “Singaporeans are proud of the country’s progress and our reinventions,” YWS Design Business Manager Wendy Chin, a Singapore native, says. “The IRs have given government agencies a lot of confidence,” reflected in growth of its Formula One street circuit night race and events at the Singapore Sports Hub [a sports complex built on the site of the former National Stadium], which last October began a five-year run hosting the WTA Finals, the women’s tennis world championships. Players stayed at Marina Bay Sands (MBS) and, like other guests, delightedly snapped selfies in the rooftop infinity pool overlooking Singapore’s skyline. Five years after Genting’s Resorts World Sentosa kicked off Singapore’s IR experiment, the city-state’s model of open license bidding, strict development guidelines aligned with government policy initiatives and stringent gaming regulation has been deemed a success. The next five years will show whether the model can keep working in Singapore amid plateauing gaming revenue and tourism, and whether it can work elsewhere. The Marine Life Park at Resorts World Sentosa Singapore’s IRs have shined on many levels. “The IRs have enriched Singapore’s breadth of experiences, adding significant buzz and vibrancy to the tourism industry,” Singapore Tourism Board Executive Director for Arts, Entertainment and Integrated Resorts Carrie Kwik says.