Tigre de Cristal Casino boosts Russian tourism

Primorye saw an increase of 18.5 percent in the number of tourists visiting the gaming zone after the casino’s opening in October.

Russia.- Primorye region upswing in tourism is attributed to the Lawrence Ho-backed casino, the first of four confirmed casinos in the Primorye region outside Vladivostok .

According to local tourism boss Konstantin Shestakov, over 30k tourists made their way to Primorye gaming zone after Tigre de Cristal opened its doors, but despite these numbers, he said it was too early to judge the casino’s actual role in this boom. Shestakov also said that Primorye had received nearly 365k foreign visitors in 2015, increasing 2014’s total by 18.5 percent. Out of this total, 61 percent of these tourists came from China. The Asian country along with South Korea and Japan are the main markets for the Eastern gambling zone. Shestakov added that Tigre de Cristal’s 121-room hotel is booked until the end of February, the month of the Lunar New Year festivities, a prime season for Chinese gamblers.

In the meantime, local authorities are ensuring Tigre de Cristal has no unlicensed competition. The Department of Economic Security and the Anti-Corruption Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the region recently announced they have broken up an illegal online gambling ring. The ring had been operating for two years and there are three suspects detained and four more placed under house arrest.