Operatornieuws
Australië – Het casino-wonder van Cairns heeft de eerste reeks goedkeuringen doorstaan
By Phil - 5 augustus 2013
Chinese tycoon Tony Fung’s attempts to develop a US$ 3.75bn casino and resort project in Cairns, close to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, has hurdled its first set of approvals.
Het voorstel, dat 13 km ten noorden van Cairns zou worden gevestigd en Aquis Resort zou gaan heten, zou zichzelf op de markt brengen voor Chinese toeristen en heeft zichzelf gepresenteerd als groter dan James Packer's Crown casino in Melbourne. Het wil 750 tafels en 1,500 slots exploiteren in een resort dat, indien goedgekeurd, negen hotels met 3,750 kamers, een van 's werelds grootste aquaria, een sportstadion met 25,000 zitplaatsen, 1,200 appartementen en 135 villa's, luxe winkels zou omvatten. , theaters, een riflagune van 13 hectare, een 18-holes golfbaan, een congres en tentoonstelling.
Cairns Regional Council has confirmed that, as advised by the Office of the Coordinator-General, Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning, the proposed Aquis Resort has been accepted as a Coordinated Project.
The council stated: “A draft Terms of Reference will now be prepared by the State in the coming weeks outlining the requirements for an Environmental Impact Statement. The draft Terms of Reference will then go through a public notification process. Once an Environmental Impact Statement has been prepared it will also be made available for the public comment. Following this process, the State will determine whether a future development application can be approved and if so, what conditions will need to be imposed on a development approval.”
De heer Fung, een miljardairzoon van een van de oprichters van het Hongkongse conglomeraat Sun Hung Kai & Co., zei dat het ‘Queensland een kans zou geven om zijn zuidelijke en regionale concurrenten op de steeds belangrijker wordende Chinese toeristenmarkt af te weren.’
Hij zei: “Gebaseerd op mijn zakelijke blootstelling aan de Aziatische markten via de betrokkenheid van mijn familie bij de financiële en vastgoedmarkten in Hongkong/China, heb ik met grote belangstelling de snelle en exponentiële groei van Macau gezien en geobserveerd. Het kan niet worden betwist dat de groei van Macau is aangedreven door een nieuw soort substantiële geïntegreerde vakantieoorden. Het model wordt snel overgenomen en geaccepteerd door de toeristische concurrenten van Queensland in de regio Azië-Pacific.”
“With over 15 years’ experience investing in North Queensland, I have recognised the unique suitability of the Cairns region to develop an integrated resort, based upon the Macau model, but presented differently via a design and marketing linkage to North Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef,” he added. “Queensland has an opportunity with this proposal to join other countries in our region that are developing large-scale integrated resorts which drive local tourism, employment and associated economic growth. The Aquis proposal is unique, in Asian integrated resort terms, by associating its appeal to the unique natural environment and region it is located in. Aquis will be, by its very design and market position, a high profile project to drive Asian tourism awareness of North Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef. Aquis, the man-made wonder, and the Great Barrier Reef, your incredibly beautiful wonder of the world, will ensure, in perpetuity, Queensland receives more than its fair share of inbound tourism from China. Aquis gives Queensland an opportunity to fend of its southern and regional competitors for the increasingly important Chinese tourism market.
The company behind the project added: “North Queensland is missing the man-made wonder of the world, which is presented in Aquis. Facilities of the like of Aquis Resort at The Great Barrier Reef don’t only attract the Chinese mass-market middle-class, but also the big-spending, high-value, ever-expanding Chinese upper-class. The existing operator’s exclusive casino licence expired years ago. When its license was granted, it was clearly foreshadowed to them and the broader community that a time would come when more than one casino operator in North Queensland would be appropriate. That time is now. A lack of competition in any industry results in minimal capital investment and innovation for the community’s benefit. Aquis does not seek a monopoly or even a duopoly and encourages competition between casino operators, which will lead to more jobs and investment in the industry.”
