Global casino operator Wynn Resorts Ltd says it has spent or “fully bought out” US$3.4 billion of the total budget for the under-construction Wynn Al Marjan Island casino resort (pictured) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). That represents circa 66.7 percent of the US$5.1 billion price tag for the property, according to a Thursday presentation.
The casino group, parent of Macau casino concessionaire Wynn Macau Ltd, held on Thursday an analyst and investor tour to the UAE, to discuss the market there, and the Wynn Al Marjan Island project.
The property is located on a 60-hectare (148.3-acre) plot on an artificial island in Ras Al Khaimah, part of the UAE federation. The site is 50 minutes by road from Dubai International Airport.
Wynn Resorts is a 40-percent equity investor in the project, due to open in the first quarter of 2027. The other partners are Marjan LLC and RAK Hospitality Holding LLC.
In late November, the casino group said work on the 305-metre (1,000-foot) tower at Wynn Al Marjan casino resort had “reached the 70th floor,” with construction on the roof deck “under way”.
Wynn Resorts has an exclusive, renewable 15-year casino licence for Ras Al Khaimah, and the project could generate gross gaming revenue (GGR) in the range of US$1.00 billion and US$1.66 billion annually. The company assumes a base case scenario of US$1.33 billion GGR annually.
The Ras Al Khaimah complex’s gaming space would be 225,000 square feet (20,903 sq. metres), which would be 4 percent of gross floor area. There would be only “one land-based licence” per emirate.
The UAE is composed of seven emirates: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah, and Fujairah.
Wynn Resorts anticipates two other casino projects will be licensed in the UAE, which combined could generate between US$3.0 billion and US$5.0 billion GGR annually.
The group’s base case financial modelling for Wynn Al Marjan Island puts annual net revenue from the scheme at just under US$1.63 billion; and adjusted property “earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of at least US$465 million.
The EBITDA forecast assumes that Wynn Resorts would be paid US$160 million as management and licence fees, and that the casino firm would also receive a US$100-million share of the free cash flow generated annually.
“Wynn properties have historically ramped in about three years, typically with a significant jump from the first to second year, as we fine tune operations and marketing,” stated the company in Thursday’s presentation deck.
On Thursday, a representative of the local investors said the venture could help Ras Al Khaimah draw 5.1 million visitors yearly by 2030, up from 1.3 million in 2024.
Total overnight guests could reach 9.6 million by 2030, compared to 4.5 million last year, according to the presentation by Alison Grinnell, Marjan Group’s chief operating officer and chief executive of Marjan Hospitality.
The number of hotel rooms in Ras Al Khaimah is expected to more than double by 2030, as per Ms Grinnell’s presentation, reaching 16,229.
The partners in the Ras Al Khaimah project also mentioned additional land bank capacity on Al Marjan Island, for “future development” as yet “unidentified”.
The venture has an agreement to develop a second casino resort on a new plot near where the Wynn Al Marjan Island complex is being developed.
In November, Wynn Resorts announced the Janu Al Marjan Island project by Aman Group, as the “first development on the Marjan land bank” adjacent to the casino resort complex.
