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CNBC
5 days ago
- Business
- CNBC
We will ‘be ready': After government rebuke, Resorts World Sentosa CEO discusses future of integrated resort
Resorts World Sentosa will "be ready" when Singapore's Gambling Regulatory Authority considers its casino license renewal in 2026, the company's CEO Lee Shi Ruh told CNBC late last month. In November 2024, Singapore's gambling agency announced it was renewing the integrated resort's casino license for two years, instead of three, citing "unsatisfactory" tourism performance from 2021 to 2023. The announcement came after Resorts World Sentosa had pledged to invest $6.8 billion Singapore dollars ($5.3 billion) to renew and expand the integrated resort. The truncated license renewal has not changed Resorts World Sentosa's expansion or investment plans, Lee said. The company opened two new attractions in 2025, Minion Land at the Universal Studios Singapore theme park, and the Singapore Oceanarium, which replaced the integrated resort's older S.E.A. Aquarium. "This year is really a game-changing year for us," she said. "Over the next few years... to 2030, we will be continuing to launch new attractions." In announcing the two-year license renewal, the Gambling Regulatory Authority considered Resorts World Sentosa's ability to "develop, maintain and promote" itself as a compelling tourist destination. When asked which of these areas the resort is focused on, Lee said: "The big push for us is really transforming Resorts World Sentosa into a premium lifestyle destination." Shopping, once a top priority for travelers in Asia, is not a priority in the resort's transformation, said Lee. "Our focus is really into experiences," Lee said. The decision to replace a "Madagascar" movie-themed area of Universal Studios Singapore with Minion Land was, in part, related to the universal appeal of the characters in the "Despicable Me" franchise, she added. "Minions stood out because ... this yellow character is very resonate to all ages of visitors, and all around the world because of the language that they use. It resonates from Asia to Europe to America and everywhere else. So to us, there's a common language we can use," she said. Minions speak their own language, called Minionese, which incorporates elements of English, Spanish, Italian, Chinese and Tagalog, among others, according to the "Despicable Me" fandom website. Resorts World Sentosa is also planning to open new hotels, including The Laurus, a luxury hotel designed like a "collector's home" in Singapore, that is set to open later in 2025, Lee said. In coming years, the integrated resort is planning to launch Super Nintendo World inside Universal Studios Singapore, as well as an elevated waterfront lifestyle complex with a 700-room hotel, hiking trails and a 289-foot light sculpture, she said. "The waterfront lifestyle complex is really going to enhance the appeal of the Greater Southern Waterfront," she said. The complex is a "brownfield project," which will be visible from mainland Singapore. Lee declined to comment on whether the planned lifestyle complex will have gaming facilities.
Irish Times
02-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Free bets and money-back guarantees cause gamblers to bet more, new study shows
Free bets, money-back guarantees and other special offers from gambling companies cause gamblers to spend over 10 per cent more, according to new research. A study by think tank, the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), funded by the State's gambling watchdog, the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland , found these inducements disproportionately entice those at risk of problem gambling. The research was carried out in the weeks before the 2024 Uefa European Football championship, with a sample of 622 men under the age of 40, the majority of whom were regular gamblers. [ Generation gamble: the invisible addiction crisis gripping Ireland's teenagers Opens in new window ] Participants were given money to place up to six bets on matches in the championship. Half of these participants were presented with offers of free bets and money-back guarantees, causing them to spend more than 10 per cent more, and encouraging about half of the participants to bet. READ MORE Although most of the sample were regular gamblers, most participants were unaware of the terms and conditions of betting inducements. More than half who accepted a free bet believed their stake would be returned if they won, despite this not being standard practice in the market. Some 87 per cent who took a free bet were unaware of the size of the stake, and 63 per cent of those who took the same offer were unaware of what would be returned if they won. Participants exposed to 'bad bets', which offer odds well below market rates, were three times more likely to spend money on these types of bets, despite being better off choosing other options or not betting at all. Dr Diarmaid Ó Ceallaigh, a research fellow in the ESRI 's behavioural research unit, said the findings 'support the case for stricter regulation of gambling offers in Ireland, following steps already taken in other European countries, such as banning sign-up bonuses, restricting offers to at-risk individuals, and capping their value'. Anne Marie Caulfield, chief executive of the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland, said the findings 'add weight to the discourse around the harms of gambling inducements'.
