Singapore Looking to Attract Foreign Gamblers

Singapore is learning from Macau’s success in the casino business. The tiny island state is seeking to attract foreign gamblers to its shores. Currently, only a couple of casinos operate in the country, but this may be changing.

The Singapore Casino Regulatory just hired two agencies, Huang Yu Kiung and Low Chong Aun, to promote the local casinos internationally. The marketing efforts will focus on bringing high rollers, or large stakes bettors, to local casinos. One casino operator, Genting Singapore, has seen its shares rise to multi-month high on triple average volume after the announcement was made.

Under Singaporean gambling laws, foreign tourists can freely attend the local casinos, while the local residents must pay 100 SGD ($80) to enter a casino. This move seeks to limit gambling in the country while letting high rollers play and feed the state coffers with gambling taxes.

The country also doesn’t endorse online casinos in Singapore and until it changes, the bettors seek gambling opportunities at many of offshore online casinos. The overall gambling market in the nation-state is estimated at several billion dollars.

Many of these offshore casinos are consulting with Feng Shui designers to make their sites more appealing to Asian gamblers. At the same time, with the improvement of smartphone technology, the mobile casino gambling may as well see Feng Shui designs.