No net gain in gaming area at Genting Highlands: firm

Oct 25, 2016 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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There will be no net increase in gaming space at Resorts World Genting under the Genting Integrated Tourism Plan, according to a statement from the venue’s operator Genting Malaysia Bhd.

The plan – abbreviated to GITP – is described by the company as a 10-year, MYR10-billion (US$2.4-billion) master plan launched in December 2013 to redevelop Resorts World Genting, which is the only legal casino venue in Malaysia. The property is also known as Genting Highlands.

Under the plan, “there will be a new gaming venue,” confirmed Kay Prakash, vice president – corporate relations and communications at Genting Malaysia, in a statement sent to the New Straits Times newspaper.

But the statement clarified: “The new gaming venue will involve new gaming and food and beverage space. But there will be no net increase of gaming space under the Phase 1 of [the] GITP development as some of the current gaming space will be closed.”

On Monday the newspaper had reported Genting’s group chairman Lim Kok Thay as saying that under the improvement plan the total amount of gaming space would not increase, but that the company might be able to put more tables into the space it would have available.

In December 2014, Malaysian investment bank CIMB had stated Genting Malaysia might be able to add as many as 250 gaming tables – to complement the 600 the bank said the firm was then operating at the venue – as a result of the revamp of the gaming facilities under the master plan.

Other improvements under the plan include the 20th Century Fox World Malaysia theme park – which has an approximately MYR2-billion budget, and is likely to open by the end of 2017, according to August commmentary from investment analysts, citing guidance from company management – and a new shopping mall.

Monday’s report in the New Straits Times said the Resorts World Genting expansion would create 7,000 new jobs at the venue.

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