Why casino tourism is such a big thing these days

We can see how tourism is boosted by casinos in some countries. Photo: Supplied

We can see how tourism is boosted by casinos in some countries. Photo: Supplied

Published Mar 26, 2019

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The gambling industry, which happens to be a really big one worldwide, is one of the most popular in terms of tourism.

Many countries have been developing big casinos in various regions within their bounds in order to get more tourists to come in. Obviously, a more robust tourism environment is good for the economy as it brings in not only more money but also more recognition and possible investors.

Evidence of a correlation between casinos and tourism:

Just by taking a look at the biggest casinos around the world, we can actually observe how tourism is boosted by casinos in some countries. These countries include the USA, Macau, and Australia. 

Just to give you an idea, Las Vegas, Nevada alone was able to bring in over 40 million tourists in 2016. And that’s not very surprising simply because Las Vegas is THE place to go if you want to make a lot of casino money and have fun.

Sure, the tourist attractions and the beautiful nightlights also attract the tourists. However, it’s the overall gambling experience and ambience that really bring them in.

A strong competitor of Las Vegas is none other than Macau, which is a region in China’s territory that was made into one of the world’s biggest gambling hubs. Macau became such a giant in the gambling industry that they were even able to overtake Las Vegas in gambling receipts back in 2010. 

Just like in Vegas, Macau also focused their efforts on providing high spending clients with VIP services. This included golden member privileges, private gambling rooms, amazing amenities, and more. This allowed them to bring in many rich tourists in 2013.

Even though the Macau casinos were able to hold their ground, a number of Chinese gamblers were not satisfied. This is why they went over to Australia instead. Because of Australia’s huge casino developments, around 1 million of these Chinese gamblers switched out to Australia. 

In fact, casinos became one of Australia’s biggest attractions rivalling even Vegas and Macau alike with 10 million visitors in recent years.

It’s not only big countries who have seen surges in their tourism sectors because of casinos: 

Other smaller countries such as Singapore, Philippines, Monaco, and Cambodia all have boasted of strong revenues from tourists who visit those countries to play in casinos. 

How casino tourism impacts other industries:

The great thing about casino tourism is that it can bring in a large number of people from various countries and concentrate them in one location. 

The hospitality industry is one such that really benefits from casino tourism. Where there is a casino, there would usually be hotels, resorts, and restaurants. 

We can also see such an example in Singapore– one of their biggest casinos, Resortsworld, is located in Sentosa near other tourist attractions by the Sentosa bay. 

Due to that, a lot of gamblers have also been visiting the tourist spots in the area. By strategic location and immense marketing, casinos can directly impact tourism and also impact other industries and the economy at large.

The Presence of Overseas Workers:

The presence of a more diverse crowd also comes the presence of more overseas workers. In the Australian casinos due to the influx of Chinese high rollers flocking into their casinos, the demand for Mandarin speaking dealers also increased.

Impact on across border markets

There are some countries where gambling is illegal, so citizens either travel to the country nearest to them that legalizes gambling or search for a list of PayPal online casinos wherein they can internationally transact and gamble.

In Conclusion

All of these points will show that there is definitely a relationship between casinos and overall tourism. Through this discussion, we can definitely say that the casino industry can have a big positive impact on the overall tourism situation of an economy. Of course, there is the problem of an economy relying too much on the gambling industry for attracting tourists.

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