By Ben Blaschke
Silver Heritage Group’s US$52 million Tiger Palace Resort in Nepal will hold its Grand Opening today with key stakeholders, guests and local government officials flying in for the weekend-long celebrations.
Inside Asian Gaming is also on site to witness the long-awaited launch of the property, which sits just eight kilometers from the Indian border and targets the northern Indian market.
Staff have been busily applying the finishing touches this week, with the expansive and impressively grand lobby a hive of activity since IAG arrived on Wednesday. The resort’s bright blue pool is also now open while two new bar areas – one near the casino entrance and the other above hotel check-in – were just about ready to serve their first customers by Thursday night.
The Grand Opening will include performances by dance troops from the Ukraine and Thailand as well as appearances by Bollywood stars Natasa Stankovic and Poonam Pandey. Tiger Palace features a large stage located inside the casino and directly behind a long, sunken bar.
There will also be a range of outdoor celebrations along the property’s Cabana Avenue poolside retreat.
Silver Heritage co-founder and Senior Advisor Tim Shepherd said this week that, “Tiger Palace Resort is our first wholly owned and operated five-star integrated resort in Bhairahawa, Nepal.
“This resort forms a major part of the Silver Heritage Group’s core growth strategy of focusing on developing casino resorts on the Indo-Nepal border and capitalizing on the strong demand from Indian customers for a wholesome entertainment destination.
“The immediate target market for the resort comprises of the more than 15 million aspirational middle-class Indian citizens living within six hours of travel from the resort, in states including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal.”
Tiger Palace held its soft opening on 20 September 2017 and launched casino operations in the final days of December. It is the first resort in Nepal to specifically target the Indian market, with everything from the casino décor to the F&B offerings and the regular dance routines performed to Bollywood music on stage each night attuned to Indian tastes.
It also provides a stunning contrast to the world outside its high brick walls, with the chaotic approach on dusty roads filled with cars, trucks, bikes and cows giving way to an oasis of luxury as you drive through the gates and up the winding driveway.
IAG will bring you plenty of news, video and social media updates of Tiger Palace Resort’s Grand Opening over the coming days.
The nearby India-Nepal border crossing