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Genting’s New York IR debuts, eyes Asian tourists The $1.2 billion Resorts World Catskills opened its doors in February, expanding the Genting brand in the U.S., even though the Malaysian company missed out on a license for its own property in New York State.
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he IR, which is the biggest of four new properties in the upstate area, will be the first large-scale development in the U.S. to carry the Genting name. The company has been pushing hard to penetrate the North American market, though with mixed results. In 2015, Nasdaq-listed Empire Resorts was awarded the license to operate the Montreign Resort Casino, one of four given out by regulators in a bid to boost tourism and employment in the economically depressed upstate region. The company’s majority shareholder is Kien Huat Realty, which is owned by Genting Chairman Lim Kok Thay. The Genting Group, which operates a “racino” in Queens, New York, had put in its own proposal for a $1.5 billion property in Sterling Forest, Orange County. However, it faced stiff opposition from local residents and
Asia Gaming Briefings | March 2018
was ultimately unsuccessful. In May last year, Empire entered into a license agreement with Genting, to rebrand the Catskills property under the Resorts World name. “The ability to tap into Resorts World New York database is a big deal,” said Alex Bumazhny, senior director of Fitch Ratings. “Being able to cross-promote will benefit both properties. Queens customers will be drawn to Catskills to redeem their loyalty points in a more amenity rich environment and will be more incentivized to consolidate their play in Queens to accumulate points. In a competitive environment building a database from scratch is a very difficult and expensive proposition and having a relationship with the Queens property gives Resorts World Catskills a head start.” The integrated resort will be by far the biggest of the new casino complexes in New York state, with 130 table games, 2,150 state-of-the-art slot
machines, a poker room and private gaming salons. Guest amenities will include 332 all-suite luxury rooms, which include 12 penthouse suites, 8 garden suites and 7 two-story villas, two indoor pools, a spa and fitness center. There is a 2,000-seat event center and late this year, an entertainment village will open to provide additional non-gaming amenities. In spring 2019, a Rees Jones-redesigned 18-hole golf course is scheduled to open. However, to make the project pay, the company is relying on the pull of the Genting brand to bring in new tourists, in particular Asia’s high rollers. “This recognized worldwide gaming and hospitality brand will provide us greater power to market our resort casino, which is designed to meet 5-star and 5-diamond standards, and provide regional, national and international exposure for the Catskills region,” Empire
