Crown Casino losing VIP players

Figures revealed at a Crown Casino AGM today confirm what many expected…VIP player activity at the Melbourne based casino is waning.

CEO Rowen Craigie told shareholders that turnover from VIP players was down 10%  in the trading period from 1 July. This comes on top of a drop in VIP turnover in the last half of last financial year (January to June 2010).

The worrying thing for Crown Casino is that their marketing strategy is geared heavily toward high roller players from Asia who have long been the casino’s lifeblood. But with many attractive playing options sprouting up in the region, particularly Macau and Singapore, Crown is no longer the sparkling jewel in the Asia-Pacific gaming crown that it used to be.

They are trying to spruce up their offering – as are a bunch of other Australian casinos but whether this will have the desired effect is questionable.

Crown Casino owner James Packer called for government assistance to help his casino compete with Singapore and Macau, citing the co-operation those casinos get from their respective governments.  But with plenty of anti-gambling sentiment in Australia in both the general population and parliament, a casino owner with a few billion dollars in the bank and casinos in Macau is unlikely to get too much sympathy…even if he plays the old ‘but it’s for tourism’ card.

Crown in Melbourne may just have to get used to being a medium sized casino with medium sized players.