Deputy PM proposes sea route
The new luxury hotel at Lawrence Ho’s new casino resort, Tigre de Cristal in Russia’s Far East gambling zone will be fully occupied for the rest of the year. Full occupancy was not hard to achieve, however: the hotel has only 121 rooms.
Deputy Prime Minister Yury Trutnev told the RIA Novosti news agency most of the rooms had been reserved by foreign guests, but he looks forward to full build-out of the Primorye Integrated Entertainment Zone, which will eventually have eight casino resorts as well as theme parks, a yacht marina, entertainment halls and other amenities.
“There will be economic benefits for the Primorye,” said Trutnev, who has proposed establishing a sea route to bring visitors to the IEZ. According to the World Casino Directory, the deputy PM has proposed a sea route to make it easier for people to visit what has been called the potential “new Macau” of the Far East. In addition, with nearby Vladivostok now enjoying “free port” status, Chinese tourists could arrive there, then take tour buses to the IEZ.
“The development looks to tap into the vein of 120 million Chinese and Koreans that live within a two-hour flight of the region,” said a note earlier this month from Union Gaming Research, cited by GGRAsia.
The resort is a project of Ho’s Hong Kong-listed Summit Ascent Holdings Ltd. and marked its soft opening October 8. Phase I, which includes 25 VIP tables, 42 mass tables, and 769 slots, cost US$172 million and Ho is prepared to invest as much as US$700 million based in the property.
Tigre de Cristal is the first of four casino resorts already in the works for the IEZ, which is 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Vladivostok. That number could double over time.
