Good news for high rollers in Australia follows the announcement that Melbourne’s Crown Casino have been given approval by the Victorian government to spend $212 million to expand its casino. It’s obviously ‘happy days’ for the group as they also plan to spend an additional $30 million on purchasing a G5 Gulfstream jet leaving locals asking whether the global financial crisis has actually hit Melbourne.
The expansion is focused on upgrading the VIP areas of the casino, and will include an extra 150 gaming tables as well as 11 new private gaming salons in what appears as a trade off with the Victorian government. The deal allows for the levying of higher gaming taxes on gaming machines, including progressive jackpot games such as the popular Major Millions slot.
It’s expected the upgrade will create over 200 new jobs. Work will commence over the next 18 months with a planned completion date some time in the fist half of 2012.
It appears the main motivation behind the expansion plan is to increase the international VIP customer base of the casino, which according to Crown contributes $400 million, or 30% of the casinos revenue. The expansion also aims to stave off competition from the online gaming sector where the popularity of online pokies and similar table games is expected to grow in line with the potential liberalisation of Australian gambling legislation.
Commenting on the expansion, James Packer, the Executive Chairman of Crown believes the expansion will…
“allow Crown Melbourne to compete successfully in this very competitive sector of the global tourism market.”
Part of the package to attract global customer’s sees the casino purchase a $30 million G5 Gulfstream jet, a move it hopes will give it a competitive edge against some of the new luxury casinos opening in Asia. The purchase brings Crown’s fleet of luxury jets to three, the latest of which can accommodate nine people.
This entry was written by admin on Tuesday, March 30th, 2010 at 9:34 pm and is filed under News.
