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The
Business Times, 12 May 04
Tap
casinos' potential for clean entertainment: analyst
Govts should also craft policies that minimise the attendant negative
social impact
by Teh Shi Ning
(SINGAPORE) Asian governments and industry players need to work out
policies to minimise the negative social impact of casinos, and show
that they can be a source of positive entertainment as well as boost
tourism and provide employment.
The casino is no longer just about gambling, said Sean Monaghan, ABN
Amro's regional gaming analyst for East Asia and Australasia, in an
interview with BT on the sidelines of the inaugural Asian Gaming Expo
& Conference yesterday. Echoing earlier speakers, he said the gaming
industry had evolved to encompass diverse entertainment precincts.
Las Vegas offers a success model for Asian operators, where beyond
jackpot machines and card tables, operators offer retail shopping,
resort holiday packages, performances, restaurants and world-class
convention facilities.
For Singapore, he said, the gaming industry might also be crucial
to capturing convention and exhibition business. 'Singapore now draws
in large delegations with its convention facilities. But if others
start providing these facilities with a casino, as increasingly is
the case, then Singapore might lose its market share.'
He cited examples of a Gold Coast (in Australia) convention space
being built next to a casino, and the South City casino located five
minutes from the Sydney convention centre. 'The pros - Singapore will
be a major tourist destination, with an entertainment industry that
can capture a growing segment of the tourism market.'
Singaporeans now contribute some US$900 million in gaming revenue
regionally. Industry observers add that more regional tourism with
budget air travel and rising disposable incomes should translate into
greater demand for entertainment. So, nurturing a gaming industry
here will be a guaranteed plus for Singapore's tourism and convention
industry.
The downside, though, is that public opinion may not be ready to accommodate
such a move. And this is not unique to Singapore. Shen Ming Ming,
director of lottery studies at Beijing University, said that China's
government faces pressure not to legalise casinos because deep-rooted
perceptions still link casinos today to the underground crime and
vice which plagued gambling dens of the past.
In the region, Singapore differed from other countries 'in that there
are no illegal casinos that I know of here', said Mr Monaghan. So
it does not face pressure to legalise casinos to control illegal elements,
unlike the Thai government.
But security and regulatory issues remain, because residents do patronise
illegal casinos in neighbouring countries. Also, the 'domino effect'
of legal casinos opening up across the region might bring forward
such a decision, if only to prevent domestic entertainment expenditure
leakage.
Mr Monaghan thus sees it as a 'foregone conclusion' that Singapore
will eventually open a casino, and that 'if they choose to, it'll
have the best model in the world, because they always do the best'.
The Singapore government has said it will consider allowing a casino
to open here, and suggested siting it at Sentosa/Southern Islands.
Meanwhile, Japan and Thailand are seeking to legalise casinos by 2007,
and Macau, the gaming centre of Asia, is expanding current operations.
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