Singapore Casinos & Gambling

A NEW city skyline will arise over the next couple of years when 23 buildings turn on the lights at night.
Maybank, The Sail condo and the Marina Bay Sands integrated resort are among the buildings that have sent lighting proposals to the Government. The plans include how they will illuminate their roofs or accentuate their facades.

Speaking to The Straits Times ahead of the Formula One night race next week, she said: ‘We can look forward to a signature night skyline in the next couple of years, when the buildings in Marina Bay and Central Business District (CBD) are completed and external lighting is installed.’ Beautiful lighting will create ‘a captivating night scene that enhances our city’s appeal’, she added.  Continue Reading »

Attention all those shark fin soup lovers.  You will need to go somewhere else to get you fix of the delicacy, unless of course, you’re a high roller and have a lot of money to gamble.  In that case, eat up.  Continue Reading »

The Singapore tourism board reported that the tiny city state  received 811,000 visitors in February, up 7.0 percent over the same month last year, the tourism board said Tuesday.

Visitors from Indonesia, China, Australia, the United Kingdom and Malaysia accounted for 49 percent of the arrivals for the month, the Singapore Tourism Board said.

Indonesia was the biggest source of visitors with 125,000 travellers arriving last month, followed by China with 121,000, Australia with 52,000, the UK with 51,000 and Malaysia with 50,000. Continue Reading »

Here is a nice article if you’re thinking about travelling to Singapore for the first time.  It talks about anything a potential tourist would be interested in.  Here is a snippet about some of the new luxury hotels in Singapore:

Complete your Singapore luxury experience with an equally fabulous place to sleep. Style junkies looking for a hotel with impeccable taste and ultra modern amenities will like the award winning Millenia Ritz Carlton or the Conrad.  Continue Reading »

Singapore is only so big.  To support the two massive casinos that they are building, they must attract tourists from all over the world.  You would have to think India’s one billion plus population is high on Singapore’s priority list.  From

Singapore is betting big on visitor arrivals from India and is targeting one million visitors from the country annually starting 2009.

At present, India stands fourth in the list of top source-markets for Singapore, behind Indonesia, China and Australia. According to data available with the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), Indian visitor arrivals into Singapore touched 7,49,000 in 2007, showing a growth of 142% when compared with 2003.

This represents the highest percentage growth among Asian countries—prompting the city-state to kick-off a promotional campaign in India. In comparison, visitor arrivals (VAs) from neighbouring Indonesia (1.9 million in 2007), the top source-market for Singapore, grew 45% over the 2003 levels.

As such, Indians who visit Singapore stay an average 5.5 days, longer than visitors from elsewhere. They are also among the top spenders, spending S$1,200 per person per visit,” Ms Kang said, adding that 58% of the Indians who visit Singapore are leisure visitors.

Among the many tourist attractions being developed is the worlds largest observation wheel that rivals the London Eye; the Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix which is the first-ever night race; the country’s first casino; and South-East Asia’s first Universal Studios theme park.

The Indian economy growing consistently at over 9% has increased disposable incomes, increasing affordability—aided by cheaper air fares and holiday packages. As a result, the outbound tourist market is seen growing at an annual average of about 25%.

SOURCE:  http://economictimes.indiatimes.com

This press release is about a company that is not based in Singapore, but gets alot of its customers from there.  Since online gaming became outlawed in the US, online casino companies are looking internationally for more revenues, especially in Asia.

Online casino developer AsianLogic Ltd has become the first major Internet gaming company to list on London’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM) since a crackdown in the US hit companies such as Sportingbet and BetOnSports last year.

The Hong Kong-based firm was founded by former Playtech executive Thomas Hall and made its initial public offering (IPO) to the London Stock Exchange last week, the first to do so since the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in America over a year ago.

The Telegraph newspaper stated that the company floated with a market capitalisation of $245 million after raising $81.17 million to fund its expansion plans, which include capitalising on the massive popularity of betting in Asia and the growing penetration of the Internet.

The company generates three quarters of its revenues from online casino games but also owns a small chain of sportsbetting shops in the Philippines. The majority of its customers are based in Malaysia and Singapore, where broadband Internet access is relatively widespread and gambling laws are more liberal.

‘I’ve been involved in a couple of listings and, in what was a pretty tough market, we got support from a wide range of institutions,’ said Hall, Executive Vice Chairman for AsianLogic.

‘Asia is growing rapidly as a gaming environment both on land and online and we are one of the first major online gaming groups in Asia.’

Press Release

http://www.igamingbusiness.com/article-detail.php?articleID=15711

Educated workers who know local customs are better than imported workers any day in my opinion.

As a result Singapore has been transformed from a backwater, in which some 60% of workers were once illiterate or had only primary education, to a cosmopolitan of highly educated youths.

Today some sort of reversal has taken place. At least six out of 10 babies born today will probably end up as graduates.

This is especially true of Singaporean women, who outnumber men in university and even outshine them in some fields.

Full article at littlespeck.com

http://www.littlespeck.com/content/education/CTrendsEdu-071229.htm

The Singapore Zoo has been cited as one of the “World’s Best Zoos” on ForbesTraveler.com* and commended for its unique approach to wildlife.

A trip to an animal park has become increasingly popular for holidays and tours. The Singapore Zoo is an “open concept” zoo. Animals live in realistic habitats with natural surroundings. Cages are replaced by moats separating most of the animals from visitors. Glass panels separate the ferocious creatures and the zoo’s visitors. The overall experience connects visitors with wildlife and habitats in a fun and interactive way.

The Singapore Zoo was featured along with Disney’s animal kingdom in Florida, San Diego Wild animal park’s Lion camp, National Zoological Gardens of South Africa, Chester Zoo in England, Vienna’s Schönbrunner Zoo, Sydney Australia’s legendary Taronga Zoo, National Zoo in Washington D.C. and a few others.

According to The World Conservation Union’s Red List of Threatened Species there are over 16,000 endangered species all over the world today. If you want to see some of the world’s rarest endangered animals the Singapore Zoo is the best place to find them!

Strong real estate market now, just wait. Singapore should be a premiere tourism destinatinon in just a few short years.

The collective sale euphoria this year has swept in windfalls not only for home sellers, but also for the companies that brokered the sales.

Most property consultancies in Singapore have logged their best-ever year for such deals, pocketing record sums in related fees.

The run of ‘mega deals’ has also catapulted smaller property firms into the same league as the big boys.

Credo Real Estate, for instance, shot to the top of the pack this year by landing the $1.34 billion sale of Farrer Court in Farrer Road.

The local firm, started in 2002, specialises in collective sales. Bigger players like DTZ Debenham Tie Leung and Knight Frank also handle areas such as investment sales and office leasing.

In all, Credo sold $2.17 billion worth of collective sale sites this year. That is 20 per cent more than the next best performer: DTZ with $1.8 billion.

But DTZ also turned in a record year, said Mr Shaun Poh, the consultancy’s director of investments and auctions. ‘In terms of fee income, it was a fantastic year for us, the best year so far.’

The consultancies all declined to reveal how much they had earned from collective sales this year, but Mr Poh helped shed some light.

Keep Reading

I wouldnt expect this type of service at either of the new casinos, but you can hope.

Taxi fares have gone up this week and the ordinary public and even bankers are complaining it is now a bit pricey to get a cab in central Singapore.

But for the ultra-rich staying in the city-state there may be no need to wait for a ride.

The St Regis Singapore, a new five-star hotel, opened its doors on Saturday with a fleet of customized Bentley limousines to ferry guests around.

From Stuff.co.nz

The hotel is already fully booked until after Christmas. The Lady Astor suite, available at $S1100 ($NZ985) a night, comes with a 24-hour butler for the room as well as a round trip to the airport in one of the Bentleys.

The cars have deep-pile carpets for weary feet and a wine cooler in the arm-rest.

“I think people are looking for the experience, not just luxury,” said David Campbell, director of sales for St Regis in Singapore.

The St Regis is the first internationally branded luxury hotel to open in Singapore for 11 years, setting up competition against the likes of colonial-era Raffles. Global hoteliers are busily investing in Asia to tap growing regional wealth.

Visitor arrivals in Singapore have reached a record this year and the government is developing tourism as it tries to wean itself off manufacturing because of competition from cheaper factories in China.

But demand for luxury is coming not only from visitors.

Singapore had the fastest-growing number of high-net worth individuals in the world last year, totaling about 67,000. Its booming economy, driven by manufacturing and financial services, is set to grow about eight percent this year, and the city-state is becoming a playground for the rich.

There is still a shortage of hotel rooms to meet demand, though, to the extent the government is allowing golf clubs build hotels on their land, to boost the city’s 37,000 rooms.

Plush hotels hope to attract newly rich Chinese and Indians in an Asian market worth $US115 billion a year. St Regis will build seven more in Asia over four years, from Osaka to Tibet.

But its Singapore fleet of Bentleys will soon be outdone.

The Norman Foster-designed Cappella Singapore on the resort island of Sentosa will open towards the end of next year, with a pair of million-dollar Rolls-Royce Phantom limousines