Blotter: Singapore casino opening draws big crowds
The grand opening of the Resorts World Sentosa casino on the island city-state of Singapore drew record crowds. The new gaming facility, the first of its kind in the territory, brought in more than seventy-five thousand visitors as its opening coincided with the start of the Lunar New Year.
In many Asian cultures, the start of the Lunar New Year is considered a day of good luck and new starts, and the crowds came out in force to test that belief. The lines to get into the resort, which combines casinos, restaurants and theme park attractions, stretched for several blocks, with prospective patrons waiting in line for more than two hours. While overseas visitors had to endure long lines, natives of the city-state could gain entry into the new facility by paying one hundred Singaporean dollars (US$70). The local government, which had long prohibited gambling of any sort on its soil, instituted the levy to deter natives from gambling addiction.
Krist Book, director of communications for Resorts World Sentosa, said that the lines were "overwhelming" but that the company was pleased at the level of enthusiasm that the casino opening received. Genting Group, the Malaysia-based firm that owns the new casino, also noted the huge response from visitors to the site’s Universal Studios theme park and the luxury hotels.
In recent years, Singapore has turned away from its manufacturing base to support its economy and moved more towards tourism, especially for visitors from nearby countries such as Japan, Korea and Malaysia, to spur its struggling finances. The island nation also has plans to host a second casino developed by the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, owners of the Venetian casino in Las Vegas and the Venetian Macau in Macau, China, due to open this spring. Singaporean gaming officials are hoping that further casino development can put their nation on par with nearby Macau as a gaming destination for the twenty-first century.
