NEWS & NOTES

City of Dreams resort casino in Macau plans to unveil its remodeled Nüwa hotel on March 31. The hotel, which was closed last year for what City of Dreams describes as “remarkable investments and meticulous enhancements,” will feature 300 rooms and suites, including 33 luxury villas. Reservations will be accepted beginning April 2, according to news reports. ● Online gaming operators in Queensland, Australia are the targets of an effort by the state’s government to ban credit card payment for internet gaming. Queensland already bans credit card use for casino gambling, including cash advances from on-property ATMs. Sunshine Coast federal MP Andrew Wallace began his push to extend that ban online last month, saying the high rate of interest and high chance of loss were a recipe for increased problem gambling. • CNBC reports that investors of Flutter Entertainment PLC are considering spinning off its FanDuel subsidiary because it trades at a discount to the public DraftKings. Flutter, which owns 95 percent of FanDuel, is considering spinning out FanDuel as a separately traded public company on a U.S. exchange, according to anonymous sources quoted by CNBC. The report added that a spinout is not imminent in the near term. • Parimatch has received a sports betting license in Ukraine, becoming the first operator given the green light to launch legal wagering in the country. The operator received approval for a sports betting license from the Ukrainian Gambling Commission (KRAIL) last week, after receiving approval for an online gaming license last month. ● The Philippines’ National Task Force Against Covid-19 is restricting travel into the country until April 19 in response to rising viral cases. According to a Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, the country will suspend the entry of foreigners and Filipinos returning from overseas. ● The restaurant Hakkasan will resume business at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on March 26. The company says it will return as a socially distant lounge, with reservations required for hotel and non-hotel guests alike. No general-admission entry will be offered until further notice. VIP table bookings for parties up to six are being accepted online, with rates listed at $750 and $1,000. Hours are 10:30 p.m. until “late,” Fridays and Saturdays only. ● In July, the internationally acclaimed Immersive Van Gogh exhibit arrives in Las Vegas, at a “secret” location yet to be announced. It’s the show’s ninth location. Van Gogh’s yellow sunflowers, thick brushstrokes and blue-hued cityscapes will be displayed on more than 500,000 cubic feet of projections. Viewers will stand in socially distanced circles with art on every wall and even on the floor below them. Some of the paintings on display will include the famous “Starry Night” and “Sunflowers.” ● Francis Lui, vice chairman of Galaxy Entertainment Group, has received the insignia of Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters from the French government for his contribution to promoting the arts and culture of France. Lui was recognized for “continually exploring and introducing different culture, arts and sports offerings to Macau’s tourism industry and facilitating the city’s diversification,” the gaming operator announced in a statement. Lui accepted the insignia from Alexandre Giorgini, consul general of France in Hong Kong and Macau, during a ceremony held by the consulate. ● Suites at the Palazzo in Las Vegas are now available throughout the week, another sign of recovery for tourism on the Strip. The Las Vegas Sands Corp. stopped accepting midweek reservations at the Palazzo last July and closed the tower suites completely in December to “better reflect occupancy patterns.” The Palazzo is one of the assets the Sands has agreed to sell to Apollo Global Management Inc. and Vici Properties Inc. for $6.25 billion. ● Shares in tourism-related stocks in Australia bounced on March 11 after the government announced a AU$1.2 billion (US$928 million) stimulus package that includes 800,000 subsidized half-price airfares. The package is designed to encourage Australians to travel at home to stimulate the tourism economy as long as the international borders remain shut due to Covid. ● The CEO of DraftKings is now a billionaire. Jason Robins, who co-founded the Boston-based sportsbook with Paul Liberman and Matthew Kalish, has an estimated net worth of $1.2 billion following a recent surge in the company’s stock, according to the digital content site Sportico. ● The recent closure of Cambodian integrated resort NagaWorld is not likely to last long, and strong expat demand should ensure a swift recovery once operations begin again. That’s according to Union Gaming analyst John DeCree, who said the outlook was broadly positive for NagaWorld despite the most recent suspension operations due to an outbreak of Covid-19 among employees. ● A citizens group that calls itself Stop Casino! Nagasaki Prefecture Network has demanded that work on an integrated resort bid in the prefecture be halted. The group issued a statement saying, “We resent that the prefecture has proceeded steadily despite the serious situation of the prefecture’s residents during the Covid-19 pandemic.” It added that a casino embodies the “three Cs (closed space, crowded place, close-contact settings)” that contribute to the viral spread. ● France’s Groupe Partouche has confirmed it’s suing its former insurance company, which is contesting its claim for operating losses when its casinos were forced to close. Partouche saw its Q1 revenue, from November 2020 to January 2021, plummet by 85.8 per cent down to €24.9 million (US$29.6 million). ● Finnish gaming operator Veikkaus has said that to date, a total of 5,600 customers have applied to be self-excluded from playing slot machines retail outlets with 27,500 customers doing the same for iGaming. In Finland, players can self-exclude from playing slot machines for a fixed term or indefinitely. Of the recent self-excluders, 77 percent were men. ● The city of Yokohama, Japan will hold the Yokohama Innovation IR Online Symposium on Saturday, March 27 on YouTube. The theme of the event is “Goals for a Yokohama Innovation IR,” offering perspectives on how Japan’s tourism, MICE, resorts and entertainment sectors will look in a post-Covid world. ● The Luxor resort on the Las Vegas Strip has started accepting reservations for remodeled rooms for stays beginning in mid-April. The redesign is “a fresh take on the authentic Egyptian theme found throughout the property,” according to a news release. Renovations will continue throughout the summer and will eventually encompass all 1,715 standard king and queen rooms inside the property. ● Resorts World Las Vegas has its first live entertainment event on the books. It’s called Neón Experience, a three-day music mini-festival with events planned across the property, including Zouk Nightclub and Ayu Dayclub, curated by and starring J Balvin and co-produced by the Zouk Group and Pollen Presents. It’ll take place over Mexican Independence Day weekend, September 16-19. ● Travelers arriving in Macau from Taiwan no longer need to undergo 14 days “self-health management” after two weeks of quarantine. Macau’s Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre announced that the two-week quarantine at a government hotel will be sufficient. ● Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen warns locals to continue to adhere to Covid-19 safeguards to prevent the spread of a new viral strain. He advised people to refrain from going to public gatherings, religious ceremonies and crowded places to prevent infection. In another development, Preah Sihanouk Governor Kuoch Chamroeun has cleared three hotspots in Sihanoukville including the Jin Bei Casino and Hotels to resume business as usual. ● Melco Resorts & Entertainment Japan, which is aiming to develop an IR in Yokohama, has signed a partner contract with Yokohama F. Marinos football club that will see the two provide support for select shopping streets across the city. The “Stay Strong Together and Support our Hometown Shopping Streets!” project will start in April 2021 with the aim of helping local shops in Yokohama, Yokosuka and Yamato that have been negatively impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. ● In Catalonia, Spain, casinos, bingo halls and slot halls have been cleared to reopen following a decline in Covid-19 cases. The venues, shuttered since October 31, can reopen at 30 percent capacity and must close at 10 p.m. ●