Inside Asian Gaming

January 2016 inside asian gaming 43 In the Institute’s Macao Visitor Profile Survey 2nd Quarter 2015 Report, only a quarter of 1,004 respondents questioned said they had gambled during their visit. This contrasts with more scientific studies which show the true figure to be as high as 87%. According to the Report, 38% of those who gamble lost less than MOP$1,000 during their visit. This also seems somewhat unlikely, given that minimum bets in the swankier and more popular casinos are typically MOP$500. Additionally, 60% of respondents interviewed were female. In line the received wisdom that people only come to Macau for two things (with one of course being gambling), most experts would say you only have to go to the border crossing with China to see this gender breakdown does not tally with reality. Genting Aims for Top End of Asian Cruise Market Russian Tiger Enters Asian Gaming Russia has opened its first casino since its government banned gambling facilities nationwide six years ago. Located in the Primorsky Krai Integrated Entertainment Zone near the far eastern port of Vladivostok, the Tigre de Cristal casino has 500 slot machines and 50 gaming tables. Primorsky Krai is informally known as Primorye. Macanese gaming tycoon Lawrence Ho holds a majority share in the US$500 million project through his company Summit Ascent Holdings. Other stakeholders are Taiwan gaming machine maker Finich Enterprises and Russian construction executive Oleg Drozdov. Drozdov began building the project before Ho bought in, but reduced his stake to 5% in April while under investigation by the authorities on criminal charges reportedly unrelated to the casino venture. Primosrky Krai is one of four regions that will permit licensed gambling in Russia, and all are in border regions to target foreigners. Less than two hours away by plane from South Korea, Japan and northern China, Global Market Advisors, which worked on a feasibility study of Primorsky Krai, reckons its gaming revenue could reach US$5.2 billion in its tenth year. Today that would make it the world’s fourth largest casino market, behind Macau, Las Vegas and Singapore. Summit Ascent plans a second phase for Tigre de Cristal, adding 100 tables and 600 machines. Also in the pipeline for Primorye is a hotel, casino, convention and entertainment complex planned by Hong Kong-listed NagaCorp. This should feature 100 tables and 500 machines, although NagaCorp says the project will not open until 2018, after a major extension to NagaWorld in Phnom Penh. The star of the show at Tigre de Cristal’s opening was a five- month-old female Siberian tiger cub, which multiple media reports claimed was heavily sedated. The UK’s Daily Mail went so far as to claim local police had launched an investigation into the treatment of the animal. REGIONAL BRIEFS Genting Hong Kong – a subsidiary of gaming giant Genting Group which owns the Resorts World brand – has moved to strengthen its position as Asia’s largest cruise line (and number three globally) with a new, premium offering: Dream Cruises. It will be the third cruise brand of Genting Hong Kong, following Star Cruises and Crystal Cruises, and aims to be the region’s most luxurious, with “the most spacious ships in Asia Pacific.” On December 3, company executives laid the keel of the new venture’s first ship Genting Dream, at Germany’s Lloyd Werft shipyard, which the company acquired in September. The vessel will be launched in November 2016 and joined by a second ship, World Dream, a year later. Genting Dream will have the capacity to carry 3,400 guests served by 2,000 staff, and will house 35 restaurants and bars. The ship will also have the Genting Club, a boutique hotel within a hotel, in which guests will receive exclusive privileges, including priority access, special events and European butler service. The itineraries of Dream Cruises will include a two night cruise around the Pearl River Delta, a five night cruise between Vietnam and Sanya and a seven night cruise starting at Nansha port.