May

12

Competition coming

Filed Under Pagcor City | Leave a Comment

If you read my other site, Global Casino Boom, then you are more than aware that many Asian countries are in the discussion stages of planning major multi-billion dollar casino destinations. If you dont read the other site, I want to point you to one post I did today about Manila Bay in the Philippines.

There is a very large casino destination Read more

May

4

Vietnam’s Ho Tram Strip to take on the Cotai Strip®

Filed Under Macau, Macao, Cotai, Ho Tram Strip | Leave a Comment

There’s gonna be a new Strip in town!

As if it isn’t bad enough that Japan, Taiwan, and Pagcor City in the Philipines are all planning to steal gambling business from Macau and Cotai, now Vietnam enters the fray.

Canadian based Asian Coast Development recently announced their plan for the Ho Tram Strip in Vietnam that they hope to begin construction on by the end of 2007 and is still pending official approval by the Vietnamese government. The Ho Tram Strip will include five hotel casino resorts and an 18 hole golf course along the gorgeous, white sandy beaches of Ho Tram, Vietnam.

In my opinion, climate could end up being Cotai’s achilles heal. The water is murky, and the heat and humidity can make it unbearable at times. I know the Chinese are not quite the sun worshippers that American and Europeans are, but c’mon, would you rather vacation in a tropical paradise or an overcrowded, industrialized island? I guess the counter-argument would be that Vegas has become the entertainment capital of the world despite being located in the middle of the desert. (*more below the ads*)

Anyway, back to the Ho Tram Strip. So this Asian Coast Development company doesn’t look to be some fly by night operation. There are some big names on board. Some of the names are:

  • Paul Steelman, the well respected Las Vegas casino architect
  • Glenn Schaeffer, legendary Mandalay Resort Group executive and part-owner of the upcoming multi-billion Fontainebleau Casino on the Las Vegas Strip
  • Greg Norman, the legendary golfer, will design the golf course
  • Turnberry Associates, one of the US’s premier real estate developers

Mar

22

Warning: Here comes the competition

Filed Under Macau, Macao, Cotai, OTHER, Wynn, COTAI COMPETITION, Pagcor City, Taiwan | 2 Comments

First Singapore, now two more.

We knew the Asian competition wouldnt end with Singapore, right?  Singapore was to have just two casinos and it was far enough away that it wouldnt be a threat.  And sure, we knew Japan would probably legalize casinos sooner or later, but that wasn’t a big worry either since we couldnt really see the Chinese flocking to Japan to gamble at locals types of casinos.  Now though, two more countries have made a move that could be a little concerning.

First, Taiwan has made some noise the last few days.  It looks like Taiwan is seriously considering legalizing casino gambling, but is denying that it has already decided to issue three licenses.  The Taiwanese probably need to be alittle cautious though with the whole China issue and everything, but this is Macau’s own backyard so a little alarm bell should probably go off.

Now this morning, News reports are everywhere that the Philipines could go ahead with its $20 billion dollar Pagcor City project in Manila Bay that would include casinos, hotels, shopping, dining, entertainment, etc.  Wynn’s name is even being thrown around. 

The government wants Pagcor City to be just like the Las Vegas Strip.  That sounds just a little too familiar, doesnt it.