Las Vegas Casinos Wooing Chinese Gamblers

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Thursday, November 24th, 2016 | Written by Lucy Brown

Macau’s casino industry contracting between May 2014 and August 2016 has presented lucrative opportunities for other casino destinations across the rest of the world. As VIPS from China look for a new place to play following the Chinese government’s anti-corruption campaign, casinos based abroad have been doing their utmost to attract them, and it’s easy to understand why. Chinese casino-goers mean big business for casinos, as many prefer to play baccarat, the most profitable of all casino table games, and think nothing of dropping what many Americans would consider a small fortune on gambling, food and entertainment during their stays.

Las Vegas Revamps Offerings

Las Vegas has already made changes to attract more Chinese players, and some casinos have gaming parlors for Chinese players where dealers speak Chinese. Others have special events for the Lunar New Year or book pop stars from Asia as entertainment. Now, Vegas is taking their efforts to draw Chinese tourists one step further with whole resorts being designed around an Asian theme.

Enter The Dragon

The first of these resort properties is the Lucky Dragon Hotel & Casino, which is slated to open its doors on December 3rd of 2016. The hotel was built specifically with Chinese players in mind, and all of its signs are written in Chinese and English, with all staff members also bilingual. In addition to numerous restaurants serving authentic Chinese cuisine, the resort will offer a luxury tea bar on its premises, and furthermore every aspect of the Lucky Dragon Hotel & Casino has been designed based on the principles of Feng Shui, with room numbers, and the kitchen having also been blessed by a feng shui master. Naturally, the number four, an unlucky number in Chinese because it sounds like the word “death”, has been eliminated from all floor numbers.

Bill Weidner, formerly of the Las Vegas Sands Corp, is the man behind the Lucky Dragon Hotel & Casino,and his expectation is that the 203-room resort will soon become the first choice venue for Chinese tourists, who are expected to begin visiting Vegas in record numbers. Conveniently, a nonstop flight from China to Las Vegas will begin providing a service on December 2.

Other Casinos Also On-board

When the Lucky Dragon Hotel & Casino opens its doors, it will be the only casino of its kind in Sin City, but not for long. Resorts World is also working on their own Asian-themed project on the Las Vegas Strip, and the property is expected to cost $4 billion to build offer, and feature 2300 guest rooms. At this stage, the resort is expected to be ready for business sometime in 2019.

Another future competitor for the Lucky Dragon Hotel & Casino is the Alon Las Vegas. This $2 billion property will also be situated on the Strip, and is being bankrolled by the Crown Resort of Australia, which has had great success appealing to Chinese players down under.

The Lucky Dragon isn’t worried, though, as it feels that its large number of restaurants and decor will be a major differentiator that will ultimately keep them on top with their target demographic. Only time will tell, though, if they’re correct in assuming that Chinese big-money baccarat players will be willing to flock to their gaming tables.

Crown Casino A Step Too Far

Meanwhile, Crown Resorts Limited appears to have overstepped the mark in its attempts to woo Chinese VIP gamblers to its Australian casinos. Chinese law forbids international gambling companies from organising groups consisting of 10 Chinese citizens or more for overseas gambling trips, and whosoever “runs a gambling house or makes gambling his profession” can face the prospect of spending up to three years in jail.

As a result, three Australian Crown employees who were arrested five weeks ago have now been formally charged “on suspicion of gambling” and are currently behind bars in Shanghai. In the meantime, the fate of a further 15 Chinese Crown employees also arrested remains unknown. Last month, billionaire casino owner James Packer subsequently expressed his deep concern over the fate of his detained employees.

Consequently, Crown Resorts Ltd has now had to reassess its business model which targeted Chinese VIP gamblers, and Citi analyst Rohan Sundram has subsequently reduced the company’s price target, stating:

“As a result, we have lowered our near-term VIP growth outlook for Crown and now forecast an 8 per cent year-on-year decline in VIP revenue 2017, from a previous forecast of a 3.5 per cent increase.”