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Adelson ‘finalising’ Spain deal as Barcelona re- enters the frame
Las Vegas Sands appears not to have settled absolutely on Madrid as the home for its mega casino resort: CEO Sheldon Adelson has left open the door for Barcelona. He may be playing them off each other to gain extra concessions, but given the demand for jobs and investment in the country, it’s unlikely to be necessary.
endgame SPAIN
Sheldon Adelson, the bil- lionaire casino magnate heading Las Vegas Sands, has said he is looking at either Madrid or Barcelona for his project to build a large resort in Spain and that he is close to a deal. He told March’s Forbes
Magazine he wanted to establish a mini-Vegas made up of a ‘strip’ of 12 hotels, all owned by Sands, on the edge of either city. He told Forbes: “[We
want] to build a Europa Vegas, to set up the equiva- lent of half the Vegas Strip that I couldn’t continue to do in Macau... We believe we have the necessary package of agreements with the government, which we need to provide assurance of success. We’re just finalising the last com-
ponents.” Adelson was in Spain in
February talking to politi- cians, including Artur Mas, the president of Catalonia Autonomous Region of which Barcelona is the capital.
Assuming Adelson has succeeded in persuading the Spanish authorities to accede to his requests for favourable tax arrange- ments, flexible labour regu- lations and an easier visa programme for executives, the project, wherever it is located, will still face some stiff political battles. The re- emergence of Barcelona as a possible location saw Mas having to “assure” oppo- nents that the gaming floors would make up only a small element of the project. He told local radio: “In this complex, so we have been told, the casinos will end up representing between two
per cent and four per cent of the area of the buildings that are to be built. The rest will be hotels, convention and conference centres, spas, restaurants and shop- ping… I think that is some- thing that interests us.” The casinos may cover a
relatively small area, but they will nevertheless be the principle revenue engine for the resort of course.” Mas added: “Madrid began
working on this project a long time ago. In recent days the prospect of developing the complex in Catalonia has recovered a little lost ground. We now have more options but not as many as Madrid. The battle contin- ues.”
The fact that there is a battle will be music to Adelson’s ears: the prize of almost E19bn in investment over ten years and almost 260,000 new jobs becomes
not only worth the political effort of navigating the inevitable opposition but also becomes a contest in the uneasy relationship between Catalonia and Castile. Under such condi- tions, Sands might be able to get more than it expects in concessions. Mas noted: “It’s an enor- mous investment. It would be among the biggest being made anywhere in the world right now and would employ very many people and strengthen our tourism industry. That Catalonia and Barcelona can be trans-
Holland Casino attracts kitchen stars Twelve Michelin-starred chefs were drafted into the kitchens of Holland Casino for a month from the middle of February. The celebrity chefs have each designed a menu for the casinos they have been assigned to, have given master classes to the kitchen brigades and have cooked on several days themselves. “We are investing significantly in our restaurants,” said Rodger Shoester, marketing manager for F&B at Holland Casino, “not only in the environment but also in the quality of the menus.”
NEWSBRIEFS
Gran Scala land deal elapses
The first attempt to build a EuroVegas in Spain, Gran Scala, is now officially dead with the expiry of the land purchase option on 1,100ha near Ontiñena in Aragon on February 10. International Leisure Development (ILD), which was behind the plans, had handed over E1.2m already but despite receiving extensions to the options has failed to pay any more of the agreed E18m. The land and the money remain with the existing owners who, along with Aragon government, have heard no more from ILD according to reports.
SBM revenues continue rise
Artur Mas, president of Catalonia, is battling to win the LVS project
formed into the main tourist destination in Europe is not pie in the sky.” Las Vegas Sands has said
the project, wherever it is built, will create 164,000 direct jobs, plus another 97,000 likely to be gener- ated indirectly. That would almost halve the Madrid Region’s unemployment at a stroke, and cut that in Cat- alonia by a third. Unemploy- ment, particularly among young people, is a huge concern across Spain with 5.4m people out of work - a rate of 24 per cent, the highest in the Eurozone.
Refurbished Scheveningen to relaunch
The newly refurbished table gaming floor in Scheveningen
jobdone THE NETHERLANDS
Holland Casino Schevenin- gen in the north-sea coastal side of the Dutch capital The Hague, is to get a grand opening ceremony on March 7 to mark the com- pletion of its 15-month refurbishment. The entire 5,500sq m
venue has been made over including the ground floor entrance, which now fea- tures a stylish bar. Escala- tors take guests up to the first floor gaming area, which has been expanded to allow more space for the roulette, punto banco, Caribbean Stud Poker and blackjack tables, as well as the roulette multi-player. The first floor is also home to the high limit area, a large
6 March 2012 • europewestnews
poker room, a bar and the restaurant.
The second floor has been almost entirely made over to slot machines, including a new area where guests can both play and smoke; however, one area is now the casino’s High Energy Zone, a loud, modern bar and music venue featuring DJs every Friday and Saturday night as well as a regular pro- gramme of live perform- ances.
The last area to be com- pleted was the third floor Top Lounge, a stylish bar and slot machine area that will be open at weekends. The refurbishment,
which was completed without closing the casino, represents an investment of around E15m.
The operator of the five Monaco casinos, Société des Bains de Mer (SBM), saw its third quarter rev- enues rise 3.8 per cent to 73.6m continuing an upward trend even in a traditionally quieter period of the year. In the nine months to the end of 2011, the company saw total revenues of E313.3m, up 8.7 per cent, of which gaming revenues
accounted for E143.7m, up 12.1 per cent. Despite the improvement, however, the company said that after the dramatic losses of last year, the figures are still not enough and its turn- around plan is the only way to restore its financial equi- librium. The company said it expects to make another loss this year.
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