Corona Resort & Casino (pictured), on Phu Quoc island, Vietnam’s first and so far only tourism complex with a casino permitted to serve economically-qualified locals, saw its 2023 gaming revenue increase 45.7 percent year-on-year, to nearly VND2.2 trillion (US$89.0 million), and it contributed VND1.23 trillion to the national government’s budget.
That is according to the official Vietnam News Agency, citing a report sent recently by the Ministry of Finance to the country’s National Assembly, and a question-and-answer session in the assembly. The report indicated that locals only made a modest contribution to 2023 revenue at the Phu Quoc property.
The agency account stated that what it termed “ticket revenue” from Vietnamese people attending Corona Resort & Casino in 2023 exceeded VND32 billion, and amounted to VND242 billion from 2019 to 2023.
The report also said that from 2019 – when Corona Resort & Casino was first permitted to cater to local players under a pilot scheme – to the end of 2023, Vietnamese visitors numbered 295,943, accounting for “62 percent of total players”, while foreign visitors numbered 179,507, accounting for “38 percent of total players”.
The report added that in 2020 and 2021, the proportion of Vietnamese visitors was higher due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, which curtailed foreign tourism to that country.
In 2023, the percentage of Vietnamese players was said to be ‘39 percent of total visitors”.
In October 2022, it was reported that the Kien Gang provincial government covering Phu Quoc, had asked the Ministry of Finance to extend by three years, to January 7, 2025, Corona Resort & Casino’s right to serve locals under the pilot scheme.
Monday’s story said that in August 2023, the ministry reported to Vietnam’s Politburo on the trial scheme’s results. The report added that the ministry was “in the process of soliciting directives from the Politburo” on the topic.
Separately, on Sunday local news outlet VietNamNet Global, indirectly cited Ho Duc Phoc, Vietnam’s Minister of Finance, commenting on the likely direction of the pilot scheme.
The media outlet stated that the ministry “doesn’t have a plan to allow Vietnamese to go to casinos on a large scale and other casinos will not be licensed to admit Vietnamese in the immediate time”.
