MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - Hoping to curb the lure of Singapore for Asian-highrollers, Tabcorp Casino Chief, Larry Mullin, has backed the call made by Crown Casino's Rowen Craigie for a streamlined customs and immigration process for VIP casino players.
Last week Crown Limited, owner and operator of the Crown Entertainment Complex in Melbourne and the Burswood Entertainment Complex in Perth, admitted losing VIP business to Singapore since the city-state opened up to gaming a year ago with the launch of the Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa.
And Tabcorp is now echoing the same sentiments with Mullin suggesting making visa processing easier by installation of VIP custom lounges at airports to allow high-rollers ease of entry.
Mullin pointed out that Singapore has made it easier for high-rollers to enter the country by building a private lounge that fast-tracks customs and immigration processing.
As illustrated by Mullin:
"You go into Singapore, they pick you up in a golf cart and drive you to a private area and there's a government official in the receiving are. You almost feel as if you are going into a hotel experience, that was the seamlessness of it."
He added that the Australian Federal Government needs to consider a similar approach and that it needs to be done as soon as possible or Australia's gambling industry might just take more hits. He pointed out that Singapore's two casinos took in almost close to US$ 5 billion in revenues, a big chunk coming from VIP business.
According to Mullin, Australia needs to work on the matter soon so that it can tap into the lucrative middle and upper-class Chinese market.
He also said that Crown Chief Executive Craige was spearheading the discussion with the government in his role as president of the Australasian Casino Association.
Mullin further said:
"I understand why you need the processes that are there, but I think we need to explore and get as fast as we can similar type of conveniences here (in Australia)."
Last week, Tabcorp launched its first personalized jet service for high-rollers, hoping the feature will allow it to expand its own VIP business. While generating less than 10% of the company's business, Tabcorp's VIP business was the fastest-growing aspect with revenues from VIP customers up 35%. It also operates four casino complexes namely the Star City Casino in Sydney, the Jupiters on the Gold Coast and in Townsville, and the Treasury Casino in Brisbane.
Source: The Australian
Posted: March 1, 2011
