New Crown Casino opens in Perth


New Crown Casino opens in Perth - 2nd January 2013

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Crown Casino Executive Chairman James Packer has announced that its major renovation of Perth's Burswood casino has been completed, and that the massively overhauled casino will be renamed Crown Perth.

This makes it the second Crown Casino complex in Australia, and the third in the world. The casino has been subject to a huge makeover, with Crown Casinos spending more than AU$750 million on the project. Work began in 2004, and has been ongoing for the past eight years.

The renovation has involved a substantial upgrade of the existing casino infrastructure and property developments aimed at catering to the high-end Asian tourist market. These include the Sky Room, an exclusive gaming room aimed at high rollers where the gaming tables look out over the Swan River, three private jets to bring international VIPs to Australia, and two mansion suites that have cost over AU$11 million each to build.

There are also plans to construct a new golf course to replace the old one, which is now the site of the new Perth stadium. "Things like golf are part of trying to build a tourism destination that is truly world class" said Mr. Packer. "We want to do much more here. We believe in this city, we believe in this state, we think as a company we are lucky to be here."

The name change is intended to capitalize on the international reputation of the Crown Resorts brand. It is hoped that this will make it more attractive to international and interstate visitors, especially those from the strategically important Chinese market. The new casino will be placed in direct competition with other integrated resorts in the Asia Pacific region, which has seen huge growth in recent years despite the global downturn.

The growth in casino resorts in the Asia Pacific region has been matched by growth in the online casino market. The increasing use of mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones has opened up a whole new market to online casinos, which were previously restricted to providing gaming via fixed-line internet services.