On Monday, Singapore’s Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) agreed to extend the casino license of Resorts World Sentosa for a two-year period beginning Feb. 6, 2025.
Owned and operated by Genting Singapore, a fully owned subsidiary of Malaysia-based Genting Group, Resorts World Sentosa is one of two integrated resort casinos in the sovereign city-state.
In 2019, Resorts World and Marina Bay Sands, the other casino in Singapore, agreed to invest approximately $3.3 billion into their resorts to maintain their gambling duopoly through 2031. The GRA regularly reviews the suitability of each casino operator.
The country’s gaming regulation agency traditionally extends RW and Sands’ gaming concessions by three years but thought Sentosa’s recent regulatory and tourism promotion shortcomings warranted a shorter extension.
Tourism Shortcomings
The GRA explained its decision to extend Resorts World Sentosa’s casino concession by two years instead of three because the agency’s Evaluation Panel determined that the property lagged in achieving tourism goals set by the country and Genting Singapore. The gaming agency said Resorts World’s tourism promotion performance tourism was “unsatisfactory” during the previous licensing period.
The Evaluation Panel has assessed that RWS’s tourism performance … was unsatisfactory, with a number of areas that require rectification and substantial improvement,” the GRA wrote about the two-year extension. “GRA will continue to work with the Singapore Ministry of Trade & Industry, Singapore Tourism Board, and Sentosa Development Corporation to ensure that RWS meets the requirement to develop, maintain, and promote its IR as a compelling tourist destination.”
Genting Singapore said in a release that the tourism industry in Singapore “faced very significant challenges” during the evaluation period that “coincided with the global pandemic.”
Despite strong public opposition, Singapore lawmakers legalized two casino resorts in 2005. The goal of allowing two Las Vegas-like resorts was aimed at increasing foreign tourism to the island and easing international perceptions of Singapore’s prudishness.
Singapore’s bet has paid off, as Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa have been major developers of foreign tourism. The resorts have also delivered the state tens of billions of dollars in tax revenue.
Sands’ property is considered the gold standard of the integrated resort industry and is the Las Vegas-headquartered company’s most coveted asset.
Expansion Begins
RW and MBS will both invest considerably more than the $3.3 billion they agreed to in 2019.
With Macau less attractive to Sands, the company is more bullish on Singapore. Genting, which is pursuing one of the coveted licenses in downstate New York, as is Sands, is also optimistic regarding Singapore.
Resorts World Sentosa’s expansion budget has ballooned to roughly $5 billion. Construction began last Friday on what will result in two new hotels with 700 combined guestrooms. No additional gaming is included in the blueprint. The current casino floor at RWS has 2,400 slot machines and over 550 live dealer table games.
Focused on the premium mass market, the RWS expansion’s design utilizes so-called “biophilic architecture,” or the combining of nature and buildings. The project is highlighted by a “striking new waterfront sculpture” that will “transform Singapore’s skyline.”
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