PRESIDENT AND COO
Genting Singapore
CHAIRMAN AND CEO
Resorts World Sentosa
POWER SCORE: 942
POSITION LAST YEAR: 24
CLAIMS TO FAME
- Won Genting’s make or break bid for a Singapore gaming license
- Oversees Resorts World Sentosa, Genting Group’s most profitable property
JUST A FEW MONTHS AGO, Genting Singapore was primed to gain the nod of Yokohama as the city’s partner in Japan’s integrated resort licence race.
A hostile incoming mayor put paid to that dream in a bitter blow for the company and its Asian expansion plans.
But Tan Hee Teck has reason to be positive about the future of Genting Singapore and its Resorts World Sentosa integrated resort.
Like Las Vegas Sands and its subsidiary Marina Bay Sands, Genting Singapore is the beneficiary of a robust Singaporean domestic and expatriate gambling clientele which has seen the duopoly ward off the precipitous losses besetting other Asian land-based markets.
With the books back in the black and GGR up 61% year-on-year — and 4% sequentially in the third quarter — Resorts World Sentosa’s prospects are bright.
Enhancing the better outlook are markedly improved checks on trade receivables, which in previous years had blown out as the company tried to lure VIP gamblers with excessive amounts of credit.
Genting Singapore’s tighter ship and improved compliance record under Tan are well-suited to the times, offering confidence as the company continues its more than US$3 billion expansion of slot machine and hotel room inventory, immersive theme parks at Universal Studios Singapore, and a range of other non-gaming asset conversions and MICE improvement.
Beyond his company’s home city, Tan’s work in Japan has been quiet, reliable and workmanlike — all qualities admired in that country — where there may still be another chance for Genting Singapore in the future.
For the full list of 2021 Asian Gaming Power 50 winners, click here.
