Delegates at a tourism and real estate conference in Ho Chi Minh City last week called upon the Vietnamese government to licence more casinos to promote the tourism and real estate markets and provide money for the state. It was suggested that if Vietnamese were allowed to gamble at the casinos then much of the money wealthy citizens now take abroad to gamble would remain in the country. There are several casino projects already in the pipeline and existing casinos have contributed US$112 million to government revenues.

At the conference it was revealed that a casino is planned for Phu Quoc Island on 100 hectares of land. The island, in Kien Giang Province, is situated off the coast of the Mekong Delta and the casino is part of a push to boost tourism facilities in the province. Delegates were told that there are at least ten groups of investors interested in developing the site. Last year the government approved the plan to turn Phu Quoc, with its 150 kilometres of unspoilt coast, into a high class tourist resort.

Tourism figures for the first nine months of 2009 have not reached their targets. Numbers have fallen 16% and next year the anticipated target of 5million to 5.5 million has been revised down to 4.5 million. The world’s economic downturn since last year and the ongoing influenza H1N1 are key reasons behind Vietnam’s poor tourism performance. The number of international tourists to Vietnam has been falling down month on month since January, except for August.

In May last year, the Canada-based Asian Coast Development Limited (ACDL) was given permission to start construction on the US$4.2 billion 5-star casino resort on Vietnam’s Ho Tram Strip, about 100 Kilometres from Ho Chi Minh City. Last November it was announced that the MGM Grand Ho Tram will anchor the resort complex on the pristine beaches of the South China Sea. The resort is expected to open in 2011. (E-10.26.09)

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