Booming Asian casinos draw tourist dollars
At Asia’s casinos, the money just keeps on coming. Analysts say the region’s increasing wealth is funding a gambling boom that saw Macau overtake Las Vegas in casino revenue, is putting billions of dollars into Singapore’s coffers and encouraged operators like Crown to try cashing in, although for now only foreigners are allowed in Vietnam’s casinos. Crown is owned by Hoang Dat Silver Shores, which is backed by a US-based Chinese national.
Silver Shore Resort ????? Crowne International Casino on Danang Beach
While Macau remains by far the region’s largest casino market, governments from Sri Lanka to Fiji are also eyeing gambling parlours as a way to help attract more tourist dollars. “The key drivers are rising incomes and pent-up demand for gaming, considering the high appetite to gamble in many Asian cultures,” says Aaron Fischer, a gaming analyst at CLSA brokerage in Hong Kong. Casinos in the southern Chinese enclave of Macau earned a record US$23.5 billion last year, up about 58 per cent from 2009, according to official figures.
Fuelled by Chinese punters, Macau’s take was about four times the revenue on the Las Vegas Strip, and is set to rise even further, Fischer said. In Singapore, where two casino complexes opened in 2010, revenue this year is seen hitting US$6.5 billion, rivalling the current take in Las Vegas, he added.
Wynn Macau Grand Opening
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klgmU0hnLjY
so much $$ in asia. No wonder they’re buying up american startups for cheap!
As stated in this article, “the key drivers are rising incomes and pent-up demand for gaming, considering the high appetite to gamble in many Asian cultures” which you will not find here in the U.S.A. For one thing, incomes are certainly NOT rising! It is quite the opposite actually.