VIETNAM

Hoiana seen syphoning off Macau VIPs

The Hoiana IR, being developed in central Vietnam, has the potential to generate about $15 billion a quarter in VIP rolling volumes and syphon off a chunk of Macau’s high roller market, according to analysis from Union Gaming.

Junket operator Suncity has taken a 34 percent stake in the IR, which is being developed by VinaCapital and another investor. It is scheduled to open in 2019. As well as the equity stake, Suncity will have a related management contract and a separate management contract for an IR being developed in the north, which will be one of two participating in a pilot scheme to allow local residents to gamble.

“The reality is that Suncity will be in position to redirect a real amount of VIP volume to Vietnam beginning next year,” the firm said in a note, adding that the $15 billion estimate for quarterly volume makes up about 7 percent of Macau’s estimated VIP volume for 2019.

“Of course not all of this play would be diverted from Macau (e.g. some would be from SE Asian customers), but regardless, it could have a several hundred basis point impact on Macau VIP beginning later in 2019.”

The resort is scheduled to be developed in seven stages, with investment for the first stage set at $650 million. Phase 1 covers 270 hectares of land, rising to 986 hectares once fully built out.

The casino is to include 140 gaming tables and 1,000 slots/ETG seats

On the non-gaming side, Union Gaming said there will be a 313-room mass market hote, an all-suite hotel with 136 keys, a condo hotel both for sale and on a timeshare basis, as well as a golf course and other resort amenities.

The property is seen as well positioned about an hour’s drive from Danang airport on well-paved roads. However, a new highway, scheduled to open about the same time as the resort, will cut that journey time in half.

The beach resort is already a popular tourist draw with foreign visitation growing at an annual average rate of 33 percent since 2013 (primarily driven by Chinese and South Koreans), the report said. The 33 percent average annual growth in foreign visitation is notably faster than foreign visitation to the country as a whole, which only grew at a 14 percent CAGR over the same period.

The next resort scheduled to open in Vietnam is on Phu Quoc island, which will be the first project to be allowed to permit locals.

Tourism industry faces skills gap

Vietnam faces a huge skills shortage in its tourism industry, which has seen rapid growth in recent years, according to reports.

According to a forecast by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), by 2020, the tourism industry will need more than two million people directly providing tourism services, not including the labourers supplied to cruise tourism. At present, there are more than 1.3 million workers in the tourism industry nationwide, accounting for 2.5 percent of the nation’s total labour force.

However, only 42 percent of those were actually trained to work in the hospitality industry, the report said. Last year, Vietnam welcomed more than 13 million overseas visitors.

Government tightens tax oversight

Vietnam’s casinos will soon be required to adopt new measures that ensure all transactions and winnings are properly recorded and stored for security and tax collection purposes, local media reports.

The Ministry of Finance Decree No. 3 is set to take effect on February 12, 2018, with the aim of ensuring that casinos are run properly and winnings are recorded for tax collection purposes.

The decree also puts forth regulations related to the management of money, conventional currency and organization. It also states that businesses are only allowed to exchange and return conventional currency at the cashier for players before they start playing.

All transactions related to domestic, foreign and conventional currency must also be monitored by computer software, with the data collected put into revenue summaries.