Singapore casinos grew in 2017
Singapore casino operations grew last year, according to latest report.
Singapore.- Casinos in Singapore have noted a growth in operations during 2017, as confirmed by the latest report which was released over the weekend. Furthermore, visitor arrivals and tourism receipts in local gaming salons reached a two-year record high last year.
The Singapore Tourism Board shared the report, which shows that visitor arrivals to Singapore casinos increased by 6.2 per cent to 17.4 million. Meanwhile, tourism receipts grew 3.9 per cent to S$26.8 billion (US$20.3 billion), as reported by the official department.
A report team by Fifth Ratings revealed that gross gaming revenue (GGR) for Singapore is expected to increase in 2018, and that it will maintain an upward trend during the first half of this year.
The report team – led by senior director Alex Bumazhny – said: “Singapore GGR grew by around 10 percent year-on-year in first half 2017, after falling by around 30 per cent over 2015 to 2016. We expect GGR to continue to grow in 2018, driven by sustained growth in visitor arrivals (first eight months of 2017 up 4 per cent; 2016 up 8 per cent.”
Moreover, Fitch analysts said that they don’t believe competitive pressures in the Singapore market will increase in the near term as new licenses are unlikely, stating: “Fitch believes Chinese tourism expenditure is a key driver of gaming performance in Southeast Asia. Chinese visitors were the largest segment by nationality in Singapore in the first eight months of 2017, at 19 per cent of total arrivals.”
