Russia’s remote gambling zone experiment Back in July 2009, Russian casino laws came into effect that forced the closure of all Moscow casinos and gaming houses and the establishment of designated gambling zones in remote areas of the country. These zones are the only places where casinos are allowed to legally operate within the...
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When I’m passing through customs with $5 million cash in my carry-on bag I always declare it. It’s just the right thing to do. Not everyone plays by the rules though. Yesterday Kim Wooyeong, a South Korean now living in the Philippines, was caught by Singapore customs officials at Changi Airport with a lazy...
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The prediction that Singapore’s casino market will soon be bigger than Las Vegas’ isn’t exactly going out on a long limb. Most gaming analysts see this as a ‘when’ rather than ‘if’ proposition. But the fact that it is now considered likely doesn’t make it any less remarkable. Consider this. Las Vegas is the...
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Any doubts that the government of Singapore was being overly optimistic with tourism and economic growth targets expected to be driven by its two new casinos must now be fading pretty fast. Singapore flying Here are some pretty striking statistics… Two years ago Singapore was in the middle of its worst recession since 1965. ...
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Singapore officials have never made any secret of the fact that their two new mega-casinos were built primarily for tourists. Resorts World Sentosa and the Marina Bay Sands are the cornerstone of government plans to double visitors to Singapore by 2015. Locals wanting to play at the casinos are required to pay S$100 per...
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Q1: How many lawyers does it take to change a lightbulb? A1: Three. One to climb the ladder. One to shake it. And one to sue the ladder company. Q2. What do you call a smiling, sober, courteous person at a bar association convention? A2. The caterer. Q3. How can you tell when a...
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The plan… Back in 2005 Singapore’s Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang unveiled what many considered overly optimistic plans to double the country’s tourism by 2015. The ambitious 10 year plan had a number of key published targets. These included the creation of 100,000 new tourism related jobs, doubling annual visitor numbers to...
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It wasn’t too long ago that Singapore was a casino free zone. Then some bright spark with a bit of clout thought ‘that Macau seems to be making a whole lot of money…we should get us one of those’. Back in 2005 ambitious plans were unveiled to transform Singapore into Asia’s second gambling Mecca...
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