Up to 16 resorts in special zone
When the First Gambling Company of the East opens its new four-story hotel and casino in Russia this year, CEO John Wang says it will help turn Vladivostok into “a second Macau.”
According to the Asia Gambling Brief, the regional government has signed investment agreements worth more than $1 billion with Cambodia-based NagaCorp, Hong Kong-listed Melco International Development and others. Almost $800 million in additional investment dollars have been pledged by local firm the Royal Time Group as well as Wang’s company.
Russia’s Primorye region is home to a gambling zone that ultimately could include 16 hotel-casinos on a territory that covers 620 hectares (more than 1,500 acres). The Siberian Times says the zone will “tempt wealthy Asian tourists away from the traditional destinations in China and the U.S.”
With the recent Chinese crackdown on money laundering and corruption, many high rollers are now reluctant to patronize casinos in Macau. The official scrutiny that has wiped billions in value from the Macau market has prompted the U.S. government to also look more closely at foreign players.
The Russian government first announced proposals for the Primorye and three other regions in 2009, after outlawing gambling in the rest of the country. The plans finally got under way in 2014, when international firms came up with investments worth US$2 billion (130 billion rubles).
Located near metropolitan Vladivostok, the gambling zone “is ideally placed for tourists jetting in from China, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea,” reported the Times. “Plans are in place for a yacht club, a marina with berth for 65 boats, a ski trail, and beaches as well as a business and conference center.”
Other jurisdictions are also vying to supplant Macau as the world’s top gaming destination. The Philippines may be the fastest-growing gaming market in the world, with a number of resorts due to open this year. Officials in Manila say the country could be the second-largest casino market in the world by 2020.
The governments of Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Australia are also encouraging foreign investors to build large resorts in a bid to lure overseas visitors.
