Phase I opened in 2013
All the preparations have been made for a planned Hard Rock casino in Vietnam, and all that remains is the government’s seal of approval.
“We have finished all the site studies and completed all project financing,” said Daniel Cheng, Hard Rock’s senior vice president for casino business development in Asia, told GGRAsia. “All we’re waiting is for the national government to issue the casino license and we are ready to put spade on the ground immediately.”
The company was shortlisted as the potential gaming partner for the resort after a 2015 request for concepts process. Details of the RFC process have not yet been made public.
Phase I of the Laguna L?ng Cô project in Vietnam’s north central coastal region opened in April 2013 with a 57-villa Banyan Tree resort, a 229-room Angsana resort and an 18-hole golf course.
The investment partners must guarantee to spend a minimum of US$2 billion to be eligible for a three-year pilot program that would allow locals to gamble. Presently, only international gamblers and foreign passport-holders may gamble at Vietnam’s eight casinos in Haiphong City, Quang Ninh Province, Lao Cai Province, Danang and Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, reports the Vietnam Investment Review.
The website Yogonet.com reports that allowing locals to play in casinos could appreciably boost the country’s overall hospitality industry. Frank Sorgiovanni of the JLL Hotels and Hospitality Group said Vietnam’s “mammoth growth in domestic tourism” is the impetus for casino development.
“Vietnam’s industrial renaissance has also driven corporate demand for hotels across the country, while visa exemptions, the introduction of new direct air routes and improved marketing efforts have boosted the its appeal to leisure travelers,” Sorgiovanni said. “Foreign investors from across the region have shown significant interest in Vietnam over the past 18 months, with the country becoming one of the most talked about markets in Asia Pacific.”
