The casino industry generates hefty volumes of revenue globally, and is consistently growing stronger, particularly as Asian countries are becoming more affluent. Although casinos are illegal in some nations such as the Arab world and India, they are partially legalized in nations such as Singapore. In fact, the country has announced its plans for opening a range of casinos (after the two major casino resorts) to cash in on the growth of gambling all across Asia.
This declaration reflects a change in the Singaporean culture. While casinos and gambling were once extensively frowned upon, today they are growing, both in revenues and social acceptability. As the first ever Singaporean casino, Resorts World Sentosa, had a grand opening this year in January, the whole of Asia watched in complete shock. Then, only a few months ago, Singapore opened Marina Bay Sands, its second casino. The latter is known to be the world’s second costliest casino, built at an enormous cost of more than five billion dollars.
Although Las Vegas is still one of the favorite destinations for gambling, gamblers are heading to other places like UK, and now Singapore is also on the list. Additionally, in terms of physical location it is precisely at the right place, with the gambling industry seeing the Far East as the major growth area.
Singapore And Gambling
As gambling remains illegitimate in mainland China, the risk-hungry punters travel overseas to satisfy their quest. Presently, Chinese people who want to gamble visit places like Macau, which has been a gambling magnet for long. But Singapore is definitely thinking of taking a share of this quite lucrative clientele from Macau. Add casinos to countries like the Philippines, Malaysia, and Cambodia, and the continents legal gambling industry is estimated at about dollar fourteen billion a year.
But the big question is, will this strait-laced state become the centre of entertainment in Asia?
Singapore’s government seems to be resolute in limiting the raucous entertainment to foreigners. The citizens have to pay a heavy amount of Singaporean dollar100 to enter the casino. And there’s been no alteration to the country’s strict drug laws.
However, if the government is so concerned about the cons of gambling among its own citizens, why has it entered the casino market?
The reason behind it is that every decade the officials seem to think hard and long and come up with new ways to give the tourists a brand new cause to visit Singapore. These casinos seem to be the latest reason. Moreover, as the Asian economies have been hard hit by recession, Singapore’s ten billion offering is estimated to revive the economic growth. In fact, with a thirteen percent increase in the country’s first-quarter GDP, gambling may already be paying off.
As Singapore still awaits results from its incursion into unknown waters, one thing is for sure. With cautious planning, the government tries very hard to retain the social ethnicity and order it has earned a reputation for. Although it’s still very early to exactly assess the social and monetary impact of the resorts, for the time being all bets are on success — at least financially — for Singapore.