Crown Resorts CEO David Tsai has spoken of his desire to transform the company’s long-time flagship resort, Crown Melbourne, into an international tourism draw to rival the world-famous IRs found in Singapore, Las Vegas and Macau.
The ambition forms the next step in the company’s transformation agenda, having last year won back its casino licenses in both Melbourne and Sydney after overhauling compliance systems and processes in the wake of multiple regulatory inquiries.
Speaking with Inside Asian Gaming at gaming law and regulation conference Regulating the Game in Sydney, Tsai acknowledged that Crown Melbourne – for many years considered a key asset of the city – had lost much of its global lustre but said the company is now starting to reinvest into a much-needed revitalization aimed at rekindling its global presence.
“When you look at a city like Melbourne with five-and-a-half million people, there really should be more hospitality and great restaurants,” he said.
“It’s a great vibrant scene, but if you compare it to other cities around the world – New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Vegas – you actually find a lot more diversity.
“We want to play a part in Melbourne doing that, either by partnering with some great emerging local brands or by bringing in great world-class brands, global brands, like we did previously with Nobu and with [chef] Neil Perry at Rockpool.
“I think if we can do that, then just as people might want to go visit a New York City or an LA, they might also want to come to Melbourne because they know there’s a lot to do, they hear about Crown, they know they have all the amenities at their doorstep, and they can see a new country while they’re at it.”
Pointing to the recent opening of new dining experiences Marmont and Kolkata Cricket Club (KCC), Tsai said, “Not much happened with Crown Melbourne for a lot of years. It’s been probably over a decade since we opened a new restaurant, but it shows that the public is waiting for it. When we opened Marmont and KCC, Broadsheet – which is a local hospitality publication – wrote ‘When was the last time you went to Crown? Maybe Crown’s becoming cool again?’.
“So, I think people are waiting for Crown to get back to a little bit of what it once was, and that’s exciting. I mean, that’s what Marina Bay Sands did for Singapore, that’s what the casinos did in Vegas, that’s what Borgata did in Atlantic City and that’s what every integrated resort in the world has tried to do.”
Separately, Tsai also revealed Crown will spend AU$52 million (US$33 million) this year to upgrade the company’s IT systems across its Melbourne, Sydney and Perth properties with a view to modernizing internal processes and enhancing the guest experience.
“It’s about updating the legacy systems that we have throughout,” he said. “You have to invest in that, so we’re looking at things like our internal HR systems, our payroll systems, our rostering systems as well as introducing mobile check-in and other improvements to bring us up to speed with other world-class operators around the world.
“That’s where we’re at right now.”
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