Inside Asian Gaming

A Tour of the Contenders Macau will retain its crown as Asia’s top-grossing gaming market for years to come, but other regional jurisdictions developing ambitious casino resorts, most notably Singapore, could draw away the meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) visitors that have enabled the resorts in Vegas to flourish redit may not be such a sticking point for Singapore’s future gaming industry. After reversing its four-decade ban on casino gaming in April 2005, Singapore began accepting proposals for the first of two planned integrated resorts (IRs) on November 15—following a five month delay. Despite the delay, the IRs are expected to be ready, as scheduled, by 2009, and according to media reports, could see winning bidders commit as much as US$5 billion in investment. The first IR will be situated at the Marina Bayfront, and the other on the resort island of Sentosa, which is linked to the mainland by bridge and cable car. Singapore is expected to start seeking proposals for the latter IR by the first quarter of 2006. The Singapore government has fixed the price of the Marina Bayfront site at a rather steep S$1.2 billion (US$733 million). Including the land cost, Merrill Lynch estimates the Marina Bayfront IR will cost the winning bidder around US$3 billion to develop, making it the most expensive resort in the world. In the last issue of Inside Asian Gaming, Jorge Oliveira, the man charged with drafting Macau’s gaming legislation, speculated that Singapore would be unable to allow the granting of credit to gamblers, and that doing so would tarnish the city-state’s reputation as a major financial centre. This would seriously handicap Singapore in any bid to take gaming revenue from Macau, where VIP rooms granting credit account for 70 percent of revenue. 9