400 tables, 3K slots
Grant Govertsen of Union Gaming Securities Asia Ltd. says Vietnam’s almost 30 gaming halls now bring in gross gaming revenues totaling from $800 million to $1.2 billion annually. The mix includes small slot parlors based in luxury hotels to the Grand Ho Tram casino resort on the country’s southern coast.
“We tallied nearly 400 gaming tables and more than 3,000 slot/ETG seats,” said Govertsen in a recent note.
The Vietnamese government does not release GGR data from the existing gaming venues. According to GGRAsia, Union Gaming based its estimates on information from three publicly traded companies with exposure to Vietnam’s gaming market “as well as via conversations” with operators in the jurisdiction.
At least three casino resorts are now in development in Vietnam, “with at least one more waiting for government approval.” The projects now under construction are in the Van Don Special Economic Zone in the north, about 100 miles from Hanoi; in Phu Quoc Island in the south; and in Hoi An, in the central coastal area. According to Union Gaming, the casinos in Phu Quoc and Van Don “are guaranteed” to be part of a three-year local-gambler trial in Vietnam.
“Details are still quite murky as to the respective scope and timing of the respective IRs in each of these locations, Phu Quoc and Van Don, suffice to say that they have been awarded to local Vietnamese property developers with no gaming experience,” said Govertsen. “Neither of these locations are easily accessible from the major population and wealth centers of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.”
