The Far East’s gambling industry has had quite the year in 2010 with business news articles continually praising the job that Macau and Singapore, in particular, have been doing.
Earlier this month predictions already stated that Asian gambling will take over the US by 2014, and Singapore in particular has seen a huge rise in visitors after opening a number of casinos. Why are they coming though? Are they really attracted to the casinos, or have they heard that Ping Pong shows are being imported from Thailand?
Well, sorry to disappoint, but it’s actually the casinos they’re coming for. The tourism industry as a whole has experienced a huge lift this year in Singapore, but in terms of the real success – land-based gambling is where it’s at.
Visitors themselves come from a number of different territories in the region, Malaysia being one of that sends a large number of visitors to the country.
An article on ChannelNewsAsia.com explains that Malaysian tourists arrive by the busload, around 3,000 heading straight to the two integrated resorts (IRs) every day. When they get there they either shop or gamble – an estimated S$3million spent per day by Malaysians on gaming alone.
Politicians in Malaysia are worried by the money flowing out of their country, according to politicians such as Johor’s Datuk Tee Siew Kiong, making you think whether they might try and grab a piece of the pie.
With growth at an all time high in the region it would be a sensible move, however, the culture is such that gambling is widely frowned upon. This could be problematic but the fact politicians are talking about it is something at least.
