Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING APR 2019 24 COVER STORY will be further developed with increased investment and tourism growth,” NagaCorp Chairman Tim McNally says, adding that Primorsky’s fresh air and open spaces will be novelties for many visitors. The operator of NagaWorld in Phnom Penh owns one of Primorsky’s three casino projects under development to join Tigre de Cristal, open since November 2015. Most relevant to the gaming business, Primorsky IEZ is 15 minutes from the airport with flight times under 90 minutes to Harbin and Changchun. Primorsky also shares land borders with northeast China’s Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces, is under two hours to Seoul and less than three hours to Beijing, Shanghai and Tokyo. In each instance, Primorsky is closer than Macau. Russia offers visa-free entry to South Koreans – Primorsky’s fastest growing visitor group, though Chinese account for roughly two-thirds of foreign visitors – and Primorsky has liberalized visa policy to 18 countries including China and Japan, with online visas often provided within hours of application. Shestakov says officials are looking at easing visa requirements further. Tourism officials are also working to improve air connectivity. Shestakov notes that Singapore’s Changi Airports International became a partner in Vladivostok International Airport in 2017. “We’re both interested in increasing the number of international flights,” Shestakov says. In 2018, international passenger traffic surpassed one million for