"Asia is already a big gaming market," said David Green, director of the gaming practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers' Macau office.
Asian lands spanning from South Korea to Singapore are opening casinos, or considering legalizing gambling, as their envy over the success of nearby Macau grows. The former Portuguese colony, now a province of China, is considered the "Las Vegas" of the Far East.
"Asia is without a doubt the most promising market," said Jonathan Galaviz, owner of the Las Vegas-based casino consulting firm Globalysis.
*New Champ*
Last year, Macau overtook the Las Vegas Strip as the world's No. 1 gaming market.Now, even Singapore, where the government regulates everything, has broken ground on a 121-acre, $3.1 billion Resorts World at Sentosa casino complex, which will open in 2010. Yet another casino, the $3.2 billion Marina Bay Sands, will also open soon.
Singapore dropped its gambling ban in 2005, and regulators there view casinos as an important part of a broader effort to promote itself as a "getaway for tourists." The city is pushing to increase the number of annual visitors from 9.7 million last year to 17 million by 2015, researchers said.
Not too far away, neighbor South Korea last year opened three casinos, bringing its new total to 17. South Korea plans to continue expanding into the casino market in order to compete with Macau and lure upper-tier Japanese customers, according to research by Agilysys, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based casino technology firm.
U.S.-based Globalysis predicts that South Korea's Jeju Island, which has eight casinos, could become Asia's next casino "gaming giant."
Taiwan last month said that it's considering allowing casinos, experts said.
Japan's ruling party is also mulling legislation to legalize casino gambling.
PricewaterhouseCoopers also expects gambling revenue in the Philippines to pass $1 billion in 2010 because the government is planning a big casino complex in Manila Bay.
To keep the revenues high, Singapore officials, who may be copied by other governments, are probably going to require that gamblers pay a $60 fee to enter the casinos. That would ensure that only those who can really afford to gamble do so, experts said.
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