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Harmony Cove developers considering Las Vegas model
By Camilo Thame
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Developers of the Harmony Cove resort in Trelawny are considering the use of a 'Las Vegas model' that would include a mega gaming lounge, a facility that would have over 1,000 video lottery terminals (VLTs), according to a reliable source.
The Jamaican gaming regulator, the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission (BGLC), noted, in its submission to parliament for the current fiscal year that runs to March 31, 2008, that the "expected advent of mega gaming lounges" would provide continued growth in the sub-sector, currently estimated to rake in J$20 billion in revenue annually.
Gaming lounges, estimated to rake in some J$20 billion in revenue annually, are increasingly becoming a major tourist attraction
A well-placed source in government told Sunday Finance that "a mega gaming lounge is actually being considered in relation to Harmony Cove development." The government had previously announced that the 2,400-acre beachfront property, Harmony Cove, will be developed to house three large hotels, another three smaller, more intimate hotels, villas, 200 upscale residences, a private airport, a marina and two championship golf courses.Derrick Peart, executive director of the BGLC, while declining to comment on specific development plans being drafted by various developers, told Sunday Finance on Friday that the state is also making room for three mega gaming lounge facilities.
"These facilities would be part of integrated tourist developments," said Peart, likening them to Atlantis, a casino resort launched in the Bahamas by South African developer Sol Kerzner in 1994, although in the case of Jamaica no human-operated games would be allowed.
These facilities tend to earn up to thirty per cent of their revenue from gaming, and would create an additional source of earnings for foreign exchange.
Currently, the Jamaican gaming landscape is characterised by a large amount of small operators with less than 20 machines -around 1,200 operators - and about 12 gaming lounges licensed to carry between 20 and 150 VLTs. Peart estimates that "around 15 per cent of patronage are foreigners".
"Mega lounges are geared at generating foreign exchange while enhancing the tourism product," said Peart.
In fact, so much emphasis has been placed on the inclusion of mega lounges in tourism development, that the government have disallowed the approval of any additional gaming lounges for an "unspecified period of time".
"The moratorium (as the ban period is called) was put in place as to not dilute the gaming product, which if saturated would not likely attract investors in mega lounges," said Peart.
During the moratorium period, only the creation of a single 'racino' is being allowed, largely to facilitate the restructuring of Caymanas Track Limited, the state-owned horse racing track.
The racino would feature traditional horse races on which punters can place their bets, but importantly, the inclusion of some 500 gaming machines would be allowed.
By Camilo Thame
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Developers of the Harmony Cove resort in Trelawny are considering the use of a 'Las Vegas model' that would include a mega gaming lounge, a facility that would have over 1,000 video lottery terminals (VLTs), according to a reliable source.
The Jamaican gaming regulator, the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission (BGLC), noted, in its submission to parliament for the current fiscal year that runs to March 31, 2008, that the "expected advent of mega gaming lounges" would provide continued growth in the sub-sector, currently estimated to rake in J$20 billion in revenue annually.
Gaming lounges, estimated to rake in some J$20 billion in revenue annually, are increasingly becoming a major tourist attraction
A well-placed source in government told Sunday Finance that "a mega gaming lounge is actually being considered in relation to Harmony Cove development." The government had previously announced that the 2,400-acre beachfront property, Harmony Cove, will be developed to house three large hotels, another three smaller, more intimate hotels, villas, 200 upscale residences, a private airport, a marina and two championship golf courses.Derrick Peart, executive director of the BGLC, while declining to comment on specific development plans being drafted by various developers, told Sunday Finance on Friday that the state is also making room for three mega gaming lounge facilities.
"These facilities would be part of integrated tourist developments," said Peart, likening them to Atlantis, a casino resort launched in the Bahamas by South African developer Sol Kerzner in 1994, although in the case of Jamaica no human-operated games would be allowed.
These facilities tend to earn up to thirty per cent of their revenue from gaming, and would create an additional source of earnings for foreign exchange.
Currently, the Jamaican gaming landscape is characterised by a large amount of small operators with less than 20 machines -around 1,200 operators - and about 12 gaming lounges licensed to carry between 20 and 150 VLTs. Peart estimates that "around 15 per cent of patronage are foreigners".
"Mega lounges are geared at generating foreign exchange while enhancing the tourism product," said Peart.
In fact, so much emphasis has been placed on the inclusion of mega lounges in tourism development, that the government have disallowed the approval of any additional gaming lounges for an "unspecified period of time".
"The moratorium (as the ban period is called) was put in place as to not dilute the gaming product, which if saturated would not likely attract investors in mega lounges," said Peart.
During the moratorium period, only the creation of a single 'racino' is being allowed, largely to facilitate the restructuring of Caymanas Track Limited, the state-owned horse racing track.
The racino would feature traditional horse races on which punters can place their bets, but importantly, the inclusion of some 500 gaming machines would be allowed.
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