VIPs

Gambling on pent-up demand and hopes that the big rollers would return, analysts at J.P. Morgan made a bet on the gambling capital of the world. They are now cutting their losses.

Genting Malaysia has seen reasonable growth in visitation since it began reopening on June 15 and Resorts World Genting has doubled its number of available rooms, according a research report from CGS-CIMB.

It’s difficult to enter a tourist hotspot in Asia without observing signs written in Chinese, or a street vendor shouting greetings in Mandarin - a testament to the influence of Chinese outbound tourism.

There’s no doubt that the integrated resorts springing up across Asia were targeted at China’s VIPs, but with that market in retreat there’s little sign of high rollers from other jurisdictions stepping up to take their place.

Southshore Holdings says it has reached an accord to sell 40 percent of the company that owns Macau luxury hotel The 13 for HK$750 million ($95.6 million).

Tasmanian MP Andrew Wilkie plans to call for a royal commission inquiry into Crown Resorts after a second whistleblower claimed the company is helping VIPs to bypass customs.

Bill Friedman’s book, ‘Designing Casinos to Dominate the Competition,’ used to be the final word in casino design in the early 2000s, with a dominating principle that the gambling equipment as decor beats “impressive and memorable decorations.”

Suncity Group held the soft opening of a new VIP club at Resorts World Manila on August 15.

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The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism is eyeing superyachts—pleasure ships owned by wealthy foreigners—as a special target for tourism promotion efforts, especially as they tend to have long port stays and spend a lot of money during their visits to the country.