NEWS & NOTES

Macau’s meetings and conventions market has almost doubled revenues through the first nine months of 2014, according to data released by the government’s Statistics and Census service. The hosted 240 events in the third quarter that drew more than 724,000 participants and attendees, a 16 percent increase over last year’s third quarter. For the year through September, 743 events were held, generating more than MOP125 million in receipts, a 94 percent increase over the same period in 2013. The number of participants increased by 48 percent year on year to more than 1.5 million.  •  Cambodian casino operator NagaCorp says it is considering a public offering to help fund a US$369 million resort casino to open in phases in Russia’s Far East near Vladivostok. The casino is slated to include 100 table games and 500 machine games in the first phase, with subsequent phases to include a 2,000-seat theater, a spa and retail shopping. Depending on a final funding structure, the project could break ground in the first half of 2015.  •  The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians have chosen JCJ Architecture to create a master plan a new hotel resort for the 22-acre downtown site once occupied by the storied Spa Resort hotel, which closed a few months ago. A spokesman for the tribe told the Desert Sun: “The Tribal Council selected JCJ today. So the master planning process will be getting under way soon and nothing has been set in stone.” According to Tribal Chairman Jeff L. Grubbe, “Creating a master plan will include a dynamic approach that will center around the Agua Caliente hot mineral spring and defining a renewed area around it, transforming the site into a dynamic destination.”  •  Louis XIII Holdings has announced a mid-2016 opening for its US$1.1 billion Louis XIII luxury casino and hotel in Macau’s Cotai resort district. Plans call for 238 suites and villas, 16 VIP table games and 50 high-limit cash tables.  •  Nepal’s government has shut down the Casino Royale in the capital of Kathmandu only two months after the casino and the government reached an agreement on back licensing fees owed by the property. The government earlier this year shut down the country’s 10-casino market, eight of which are located in tourist hotels in the capital, in connection with the protracted licensing fee dispute. According to local news reports, the latest closure of Casino Royale was triggered by its failure to renew its license as per regulations introduced earlier this year.  •  Visitors to Macau spent MOP15.5 billion (US$1.9 billion), excluding gaming expenses, in the third quarter of 2014, an increase of 4.6 percent over a year earlier, official data show. Per capita visitor spend fell by 1.4 percent year-on-year to MOP1,878 ($235), but the number of visitors grew by 6.1 percent to 8.2 million. Through September 30, visitor arrivals for the year are up 7.4 percent to 23.5 million. Mainland Chinese were the biggest spenders over this period at MOP2,220 per head. Shopping accounted for 57 percent of their total spending. Overall, shopping accounted for 49 percent of spend market-wide, followed by accommodation at 26 percent.  •  Democrat Tom Wolf’s win in the Pennsylvania gubernatorial race was due in part to the state’s horse-racing industry. According to a report in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, three associations representing the state’s $3 billion racing industry donated $37,500 to Wolf’s campaign to defeat incumbent Governor Tom Corbett. Horsemen objected to Corbett’s transfer of money from the casino revenue fund dedicated to the racing industry to other line items in the state budget. “Our portion of the fund is treated more like it’s a stopgap for other areas of the state rather than us receiving the money to continue what we’re doing,” Brian Sanfratello, executive director of the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, told the newspaper. “I think Tom Wolf is a very good business person and he understands that in order for business to thrive, then it needs to receive what it was promised to receive.”  •  The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board today has fined the Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course in Grantville $10,218 because of an ATM that dispensed cash for credit-card cash advance transactions. Under the Gaming Act, no credit card advance machine may be placed on the gaming floor, though such machines are permitted within the horse racetrack area. The ATM was on the casino floor for approximately 10 months and allowed cash advances on credit cards. The fine represented the amount of fees netted by the casino while that ATM was on the casino floor.  • GTECH Corporation has been awarded a seven-year integrated services contract to provide a new central gaming system, a variety of lottery/self-service machines, multimedia displays, an upgraded telecommunications network, and related ongoing services to the Missouri Lottery. GTECH has been the major lottery technology and services provider to the Missouri Lottery since 1991. GTECH expects to receive revenues of approximately US$112 million over the seven-year term.  •  Genesis Gaming, a video slot-content provider, announced a partnership with Odobo and the availability of two new HTML5 games, Orion and Robyn, via the Odobo platform. Juniper Research says that by 2018 over 164 million people will be using their smart phone or tablet device to engage in online gambling. Given the demand for iGaming on mobile devices, Genesis is now focused on making sure every new release is available in HTML5. As the preferred format for mobile iGaming, Genesis sought out Odobo as a premium platform with a proven distribution channel for the delivery of HTML5 content.  •  Gaming testing company BMM Testlabs celebrated its 33rd anniversary on November 27. “While we are only in the 11th month of 2014, BMM’s 33rd year of operations has seen another record year,” BMM Global President and CEO Martin Storm said. “We have serviced some 300 gaming manufacturers worldwide; opened new labs in Vienna, Austria and Bologna, Italy; grown our Canadian business very significantly and grown all international business operations; expanded our free tribal gaming education in the U.S. and lottery training in South America; achieved further ISO accreditation for our test-labs; released new software applications for use by regulators and manufacturers; expanded our infrastructure including lab space and hired key staff.”  •  The Kentucky Lottery Corporation board says it will negotiate with GTECH Corporation to offer lottery products online, and hopes to have the project ready later next year. Lottery President and CEO Arch Gleason says it’s not yet known which lottery products will be available online initially.  •  Leading gaming testing company Gaming Laboratories International conducted GLI’s first Master’s Level Commissioner Certification Training for the National Indian Gaming Association November 5-7 at the company’s GLI University Training Center in Las Vegas, with more than 38 re
gulators from 18 jurisdictions in attendance. “GLI’s 25-year history, commitment to the Indian gaming industry and support for NIGA has provided us with a natural partner to enhance our commissioner and regulator training,” said NIGA Chairman Ernie L. Stevens, Jr. “Going into 2015, NIGA can now confidently say we have a top-of-the-line training series to offer our member tribes.”  •  Tsogo Sun, South Africa’s biggest hotel and gaming group, reported a 2 percent decline in EBITDA for the first six months of the year on revenue that was up 4 percent to 5.4 billion rand. Net income was down 15% to R743 million. The group is aggressively pursuing expansion, however, buoyed by news that the government’s Department of Trade and Industry is proposing that all forms of online gambling and other new forms of gambling, such as dog racing, be prohibited. The department is also proposing that the number of electronic bingo terminals allowed nationally be restricted. The group is planning nearly R7 billion in investments in new properties and refurbishments and expansions to its existing estate.  •  Harrah’s and Harveys resorts in Reno and Lake Tahoe will reduce their workforce, according to parent company Caesars Entertainment. Overall staff will be trimmed by less than 1 percent at Harrah’s Reno, Harrah’s Lake Tahoe and Harveys Lake Tahoe, which employ a total of 2,600 people.  ?   Four Vegas casino operators got high marks this year for offering LGBT-friendly environments. The Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index awarded a perfect score of 100 to MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment, Wynn Resorts and the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.