Casinos in Asia
Rolling the Dice
by Peter Graham
by Peter Graham
Where can you find the world's biggest hotel? If your answer is Las Vegas, you are not too far off the mark. The biggest hotel is indeed located in a gambling destination, but not in the United States. It's right on the other side of the globe, in the Genting Highlands of Malaysia. With more than 6300 rooms, the First World Hotel at the Genting Casino Resort is officially the hotel with the most rooms.
While we are on the casino beat, answer this one: Which gambling destination is the world’s biggest money-spinner? Once again, you might be tempted to answer Las Vegas and, once again, you would be wrong. The island of Macau, a 40-minute ferry ride from Hong Kong, has just become the world's top gambling destination based on casino revenue. It is expected to rake in US$20 million more than Las Vegas this year.
It shouldn't be surprising that casinos in Asia have become world-beaters. As Chinese tourism grows, the number of visitors to casinos will soar. The Chinese are big gamblers - punters in Macau bet an estimated $90 for every $10 placed in Nevada. American money is now pouring into this former Portuguese territory to cater for the increased demand - and more than 25 new casinos and hotel complexes are planned in the next few years.
Now Singapore wants to get in on the act. Determined to hold onto its share of the Chinese tourism market, the island state has reversed its ban on gambling to offer two casino licenses. Las Vegas Sands won the right to build the first casino on reclaimed land in the Marina Bay area, close to the legendary Raffles and most of Singapore's five-star hotels.
The company, which runs the Venetian casino in Las Vegas, is spending US$5-billion on the project. The other license is being competed for by three finalists, all of whom promise lavish resort complexes, with theme parks, theatres and entertainment for the whole family in the Las Vegas mould.
The Genting complex outside Kuala Lumpur comes as a surprise to many tourists to Malaysia. Publicity about the resort concentrates more heavily on its theme park, restaurants and entertainment, but there is no doubt that its vast casinos are the main attraction. Fun-seekers head for the mountain-top resort from all over Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
Only 50 kilometres from the capital city, it attracts hordes of package tourists, who complete the last leg of their journey by way of spectacular 3.4-kilometre cable car ride up the mountain. The Skyway can carry 22,000 passengers an hour and recently passed the 55 million passenger mark. There are five hotels in the complex.
I stayed at the Genting Hotel, which is the flagship of the resort and in the middle of the action. Only an escalator ride up from the foyer is the casino, which spreads seamlessly to the adjacent hotels, the Highlands Hotel and the Resort Hotel. It was misty and rainy when I was there, a change from humid Kuala Lumpur.
The best meal I had was at the Lake View Seafood Restaurant, set on a terrace overlooking the man-made lake that forms part of the resort's superb theme park. My favourite relaxation spot was the Starbucks outlet, just off the foyer of the Highlands Hotel. From there, I watched the gamblers come and go, trying to judge by their reactions whether Lady Luck had smiled on them.
Macau is a very different destination. The casinos are spread through the downtown area near the ferry harbour. Some are small, with only a few tables and a handful of machines, while others, such as the new Sands Casino, are huge. The new arrivals have definitely lifted the standards of Macau. No longer can one expect to run into the shady characters that used to loiter inside and outside the gambling halls.
The boom in Macau's earnings started in 2001, when the government decided to end the monopoly on casino rights enjoyed by tycoon Stanley Ho. For 40 years, he had total control of casinos on the island, with his Hotel Lisboa the centrepiece.
Now foreign operators have moved in. They have brought a new style and dynamism to Macau. Ho's casinos were packed, smoke-filled and loud, the new Las Vegas-style casinos are elegant, spacious and clean. More of the same are to follow, with up to US$25-billion to be spent on a new gambling district called the Cotai Strip. The area will also house a big sports arena and family entertainment outlets.
In the wake of the new developments, tourism to Macau has soared, recording a 20% growth annually. This year more than 18 million visitors will converge on the island. Although most of their money will be spent in the casinos, the authorities are working hard to emphasize the historic attractions and the family-friendly beach holiday resorts. I stayed at the Holiday Inn in downtown Macau, close to the many casinos and nightspots.
Both Macau and Genting will face formidable competition when the first casino opens in Singapore in 2009. Already a popular tourist destination, its appeal for Asian visitors will be hugely enhanced by the opportunity to gamble. Both Genting and the family of Stanley Ho are involved in bids for the Singapore licenses.
Genting is one of three finalists to win the second license, to build a casino and entertainment centre on Sentosa Island. The Malaysian company, along with partner, Universal Studios, are planning a massive theme park, an 8-hectare marine life park, an "Oceanarium" featuring 700,000 aquatic animals and a lagoon.
The second finalist is Sol Kerzner, the South African-born developer of the highly-successful Atlantis casino resort in the Bahamas. He has teamed up with the influential Singapore company, Capitaland, for a resort that will feature the world's largest aquarium, a water theme park and four hotels with 1,800 rooms.
The other finalist, Eighth Wonder, a Las Vegas casino developer which has aligned itself with Australian Kerry Packer and the Ho family, plans wedding pavilions designed by Vera Wang, a soccer stadium named after soccer legend Pele, a spa and wellness centre operated by guru Deepak Chopra and an oceanarium headed by Philippe Cousteau, the grandson of the late French undersea explorer Jacques Cousteau.
It is clear that gambling in Asia will never be the same again.
For other articles on Macau and Malaysia, go to our archive
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