Expected to add to NEC draw
The new £150 million Resorts World Birmingham has opened at the National Exhibition Centre next to the Genting Arena in the English city, reports the BBC. The casino resort could turn Birmingham “into a global holiday destination,” the news outlet reports.
RW Birmingham, which has created 1,200 new jobs, includes a 12-story, 538,000-square-foot resort in the shape of a cruise ship. It has 18 bars and restaurants and 50 outlet stores along with the casino, spa and hotel. It also features an 11-screen IMAX movie theater.
RWB Operations Manager Barry Clemo said the resort is for people “too young to sit at home watching telly, and too old to push through the crowds in the city center.” The NEC alone attracts 2 million people each year.
James Berresford, CEO of the tourism organization VisitEngland, said the opening “marks a huge investment to the West Midlands and is sure to drive additional spend in the area, adding to the existing wide range of major visitor attractions such as Warwick Castle, Cadbury World and the Library of Birmingham that contribute to the 56 million visitors the West Midlands attracts every year.”
It is Genting’s first project in Europe. “No one has ever done anything like this before,” said Clemo. “There is no resort like this in the UK and no resort like this in Europe, so it is utterly unique.”
