Inside Asian Gaming

August 2015 inside asian gaming 25 has its own VIP program with 1.7 million members in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, and 4 million more in the VIP program of its New World department stores. CTF also brings the Rosewood luxury hotel chain to the project. For CTF, Queen’s Wharf gives it the stamp of approval as a casino partner in a jurisdiction outside Macau. That could bolster its applications to develop IRs in South Korea and Vietnam. Hong Kong-listed Far East Consortium brings experience as a primarily residential property developer in the region with a solid track record in Australia. From mainland China to Melbourne, FEC targets Chinese buyers for its high rise properties, and a source says it has seen no slowdown in demand amid China’s decelerating economic growth and President Xi Jinping’s anti- corruption campaign. Dorset Hotel group, focused on outbound Chinese tourists, is another key component in FEC’s “Chinese wallet” strategy and gives Queen’s Wharf additional traction with mainland visitors. The Brisbane IR will also create a bookend to Echo’s Jupiters Gold Coast casino resort, 85 kilometers (51 miles) away in Australia’s and the current unwillingness of junket and premium direct players to visit Macau, Southeast Queensland could reap huge previously unanticipated windfalls with over A$1.5 to 1.8 billion in revenues in 2018-2019,” he says. With that forecast, perhaps it should be no surprise that Mr Fung, renowned as a savvy dealmaker, appears to have made Gold Coast his backup plan. The Hong Kong billionaire with a long history of Australian property investments has been on a A$280 million Gold Coast property-buying spree, capped with the A$160 million purchase of the Sheraton Mirage in May. Mr Fung’s son Justin said his father would consider turning the 296 beachside resort into a casino. That presumes Queensland will reopen the licensing process in Gold Coast, a move likely to attract other contenders. Mr Fung, meanwhile, has given no indication what the Gold Coast purchases mean for the Aquis project some 1,400 kilometers to the north. Any Gold Coast IR would compete with Echo’s Jupiter Gold Coast casino resort, which had revenue of A$292 million last year, and even its Brisbane property an hour’s drive away. Jupiters, about seven kilometers from Sheraton Mirage, is in the midst of a A$345 million revamp that includes a new hotel tower and new VIP facilities. Mr Kale, a marketing professor at Gold Coast’s Bond University, believes the cluster effect can make Southeast Queensland a more attractive gaming destination for foreign and domestic travelers. “Having 3-4 properties within an hour’s drive will provide a significant lift in revenues for all properties,” Mr Kale says, based on research he conducted for the Gold Coast City Council. “Clustering may have some benefits, as evidenced by major hubs like Las Vegas and Macau,” Mr Green says. “However, Singapore has only two [IRs], and the major Australian IR, Crown Melbourne, is on its own.” He concludes, “It is the nature of the properties themselves which will be most important.” The first step, of course, will be getting them built. “I am skeptical about the Aquis project,” Newpage Consulting Principal David Green, a former Australian gaming regulator, says. “There just will not be the traffic to drive a return on an investment of that size. approvals routinely can take a year and blamed Mr Fung for not providing all requested information. Reef had revenue of A$22.8 million last year and $6 million in profits, amounts observers say could be much higher for the casino with 40 tables and more than 500 machines. Mr Fung said he planned to use cash flow from Reef to help finance Aquis, the first phase of which is scheduled to open in 2018 with 4,000 rooms at a cost of A$4.3 billion. Mr Fung briefly declared the Aquis project under review but has since reiterated his commitment to it. “I am skeptical about the Aquis project,” Newpage Consulting Principal David Green, a former Australian gaming regulator, says. “There just will not be the traffic to drive a return on an investment of that size. Australia might currently be enjoying a surge in visitations and spend by Chinese tourists and dedicated players, but that may not be relevant in the four or more years it will take to build, open and market a project like Aquis.” In Southeast Queensland, Mr Kale expects that surge will significantly expand last year’s A$577 million in gaming revenue. “With the connections of Echo’s partners [on the Queen’s Wharf project, Chow Tai Fook Enterprises and Far East Consortium] in China, Cover Story Renderings of the planned main-floor and VIP gaming areas at Echo’s Destination Brisbane.