Full build-out of zone by 2020
A month after first openings its doors to the public, Lawrence Ho’s $1 billion Tigre de Cristal casino near Vladivostok, Russia celebrated its grand opening November 11.
The resort, developed with the Chinese VIP market in mind, will open in phases. The first phase includes a 119-room hotel and casino with 800 slot machines, 15 baccarat tables, 25 other table games and 25 VIP gaming tables. It also offers a nightclub and several restaurants. Phase II will add two more hotels and additional gaming space. Ultimately, Tigre de Cristal could include 500 more slot machines, 100 VIP tables and 70 mass tables, reported the Russian news agency Tass.
At the grand opening, Craig Ballantyne, executive director of owner G1 Entertainment, said the zone’s first resort will kick-start what is expected to be massive investment in the area. The zone covers 620 hectares (about 2.4 miles) in Muravyinaya Bay near Vladivostok. “Remember,” Ballantyne said recently, “there are 120 million gambling-mad Chinese, Japanese and Koreans living within two hours’ flying time of this place.”
The project is expected to be fully developed by 2022. Other investors include Cambodian gaming company NagaCorp Ltd, Royal Time Primorye and Diamond Fortune Holdings. Tigre de Cristal, which a BBC report called “a cathedral of bling,” is a project of Lawrence Ho’s Summit Ascent Holdings.
The opening did not go off without controversy. The London Express reported that a caged Siberian tiger named Crystal was “drugged and dragged around” the casino “in horrifying pictures.” Siberian tigers are endangered, and Russian Premier Vladimir Putin is a known advocate for their care and preservation. Only 500 of the tigers remain in the wild, according to reports. The appearance by the tiger, which was heavily medicated, drew harsh criticism in the global media.
Sergei Aramilev, of the Amur Tiger Centre, said, “In terms of moral and ethical aspects, it is not good.” But a local private zoo, which houses the cat acquired from another zoo, said the animal is in good health and was in no danger due to the casino display.
