Government weighing locals gaming
A $4 billion casino resort in South Hoi An, Vietnam, which broke ground in April, will include three hotels in Phase I of the development, reported Macau-based SunCity in a press release.
The $500 million Phase I “will include approximately 1,000 lodging rooms in three hotels, residential villas and apartments, along with a championship golf course, food and beverage offerings, retail areas and a variety of further leisure and entertainment facilities,” the press release stated.
The Hoi An South Integrated Resort will be located in Quang Nam Province, reported GGRAsia. It is a project of Hoi An South Development Co. Ltd., a joint venture of SunCity, Vietnam-based asset management firm VinaCapital Group and Gold Yield Enterprises Ltd., a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Ltd.
The resort will span 160 hectares (395 acres) and is expected to be complete in the first quarter of 2019. It will be the second largest casino in Vietnam after the Ho Tram Strip resort and casino in Ba Ria-Vung Tau.
The complex will include five-star hotels and villas and an electronic gaming facility aimed at foreign tourists. First licensed in 2010, it began as a joint venture of Vietnamese asset management firm VinaCapital and Malaysian casino giant Genting Berhad. But in September 2012, Genting withdrew from the project. Macau-based SunCity, and Hong Kong-based Chow Tai Fook Enterprises joined the team in 2014.
According to the Asia Gaming Brief, the Vietnamese government is considering legislation that could legalize online gambling and also allow locals to enter the country’s casinos. If it doesn’t happen, brokerage Union Gaming says the Hoi An South still “has a chance.”
In an April note, analyst Grant Govertsen wrote, “We don’t love the foreigners-only concept in Vietnam, although with the right set of circumstances we think the Hoi An project has potential, based on the Phase I cost.”
