Las Vegas Casino Company in Singapore | IXGAMES

Experts are saying Las Vegas Sands’ Marina Bay Sands will likely be the more visible and more enduring property of two that will open in Singapore in early 2010. Singapore reversed a 40-year ban on gambling in 2005 and invited developers worldwide to bid to build integrated resorts on two sites. The $5.4 billion Marina Bay Sands on Singapore’s waterfront will include three 55-story towers housing 2,500 suites, capped by a rooftop terrace. As in Las Vegas, where the company operates the Venetian and Palazzo, and in Macau, home of the massive Venetian Macau, the Marina Bay Sands will have a major convention center as well as two theaters, a retail center, a museum and a casino. Marina Bay’s competitor will be the $4.2 billion Resorts World at Sentosa, developed by Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-based Genting Group. The resort on Sentosa Island off the southern coast of Singapore will incorporate six hotels of varying themes around the centerpiece of the development — Asia’s only Universal Studios theme park. Resorts World will have a water park, a maritime museum, a theater featuring an Asian cultural show, a retail district, a conference center and a casino. Singapore has high hopes for the addition of the two integrated resorts. The island city-state at the southern end of the Malay Peninsula draws more than 9 million visitors annually, mostly from Indonesia, China and Australia, adding about $7.2 billion in U.S. dollars to its economy. Margaret Teo, assistant CEO of development for the Singapore Tourism Board, said the resorts are expected to attract 2 million to 3 million more visitors and generate $1.9 billion (U.S.) for the economy by 2015. The gaming component of Singapore’s new resorts will be carefully watched. Among the regulations is a plan to discourage locals from playing – Singaporeans would have to pay a $100 ($72 U.S.) daily fee or $2,000 ($1,443 U.S.) annually to gamble in either casino. The gaming tax rate on the two casinos is 15 percent, 5 percent for VIP players that deposit more than the Singapore equivalent of $72,000 to play in private salons. By comparison, Nevada has a 6.75 percent gaming tax, New Jersey collects 8 percent, Pennsylvania 56 percent and Macau 40 percent. The Marina Bay Sands casino is expected to house 1,000 table games and 1,400 slot machines.