Queensland, Australia Tourism Minister Kate Jones says the state government will give Star Entertainment Group first right of refusal on a planned multibillion-dollar Gold Coast Global Tourism Hub (GTH) to end a longstanding dispute over a proposed second casino in the area.
Star Entertainment Group, which owns and operates the Star Gold Coast, opposes development of a second casino in the vicinity. Last month it pledged it would invest AU$100 million to redevelop the old Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre if the government drops the second casino plan. That’s in addition to a previously announced AU$2 billion expansion of the Star Gold Coast.
“We support investment in tourism assets on the Gold Coast, but the Gold Coast market is too small for two casinos,” said Star Chairman John O’Neill. “We are not alone in this assessment of the market. The introduction of another local casino competitor would force us to defend our local market share at the expense of driving incremental growth in interstate and international tourism.”
O’Neill said the debate over a second casino on the Gold Coast had been a been a distraction for seven years and “yielded nothing but considerable cost—tens of millions of dollars—to governments and is impacting our business, weighing on our share price.”
“The Star have been very clear if we were to enter an exclusive agreement then they would want an exclusive contract,” Jones said at a press conference last month. “We have the endorsement from the Gold Coast to move forward with a multibillion-dollar investment in tourism infrastructure and we will sit down with Star first out of respect for their significant investment in the community.
“Throughout this process, the incumbent company here, Star, have said they believe they are best placed to deliver an additional AU$2 billion of infrastructure, which will be a game-changer. We will enter negotiations with Star and they can put up or shut up about their development.”
Jones said the government “will approach Star to exclusively deal with them so they can provide detail of their offer. The government will examine this offer and make a decision.”
Inside Asian Gaming reports that the GTH report, compiled by the Gold Coast Tourism Advisory panel and led by John Witheriff, didn’t describe what future development should look like, it did state a clear need for some sort of GTH if the Gold Coast is to position itself as an international tourism destination.
“The case for a GTH which addresses the need to attract particularly international visitors to the Gold Coast is strong,” it said, noting a 17.1 percent decline in Chinese visitors to the Gold Coast in the 12 months that ended on March 31.
“Without development of this kind, the Gold Coast is likely to continue to lose tourism market share to its competitors. This is the panel’s primary concern as there is limited evidence to suggest that currently proposed projects meet the need to grow international tourist visitation.” It added that, “with demand for convention and entertainment space increasing, and newer larger facilities accessible in other locations around the country, it is likely the Gold Coast will continue to lose market share, and the economic returns it brings, unless significant change is made.”
