Canberra casino relaunches after US$10.4 million renovation

Canberra casino will reopen to the public after undergoing a US$ 10.4 million refurbishment aimed at drawing international gamblers to Canberra.

Australia.- Canberra casino will reopen to the public today (Friday) after undergoing a AUD 14 million (US$10.4 million) refurbishment aimed at luring in international gamblers to Canberra.

On Thursday night, casino owner Aquis Entertainment and Cox Architecture hosted an opening party for more than 600 guests, with proceeds donated to Lifeline Canberra and the Ricky Stuart Foundation.

According to Canberra casino manager Rhiannon Bach the refurbishment would surprise many and she added that the company hoped the arrival of international flights at Canberra Airport would transform the local economy and tourism.

“Quite frankly, this casino is unrecognisable from what it used to,” said Bach. “I will be blunt, when I came to this casino from Macau I thought to myself this is the worst casino I have ever seen in my life. But it has potential and the opportunity to do this refurbishment was a chance to create space worthy of the nation’s capital. There is a great opportunity with international flights from Singapore and that will draw extra people to the casino besides locals.”

The resort’s renovation comes amid a AUD330 million (US$ 245.7 million) bid to build a new casino with two hotels, restaurants and resort-style entertainment. Hong-Kong based Aquis Entertainment affirms that the project would bring an extra 750,000 visitors a year including high-end Chinese gamblers.