Tigre de Cristal sees surge in visitation, casino revenue from tourists

Wednesday 31st of May 2017

Russia's major casino - Tigre de Cristal - in the Primorye gambling zone receives 95 percent of its revenues from foreign tourists, Primorye Vice Governor Evgeny Polyansky who oversees the zone said earlier this week while meeting local deputies, according to a statement from the local authorities.

"The entertainment complex is visited by about 1000 people per day, whereas the casino operators started with 100 visitors a day. The ratio of foreign and local visitors is almost proportional, but 95 percent of the casino's revenues comes from foreign tourists," Polyansky noted.

He also said that largely thanks to Tigre de Cristal a local airport recorded an increase in passengers flown to Primorsky Territory by 30 percent in 2016. Tigre de Cristal is run under Summit Ascent Holdings via its subsidiary G1 Entertainment LLC.

Polyansky and the corporation's head Andrei Folomeyev also briefed the local deputies on the plans for the zone's development. According to Folomeyev, by 2022 the corporation will invest 79.5 billion rubles (1.4 billion dollars at the current exchange rate) in the project, whose area by that time will occupy an area of 263 hectares.

The second stage of the zone's implementation, which started in 2016, will last until 2019. Cambodian investor NagaCorp Ltd is set to construct the next entertainment facility in the zone - Mayak, which is expected to become the biggest in Primorye. In April 2017 its builders proceeded to the second stage of earthworks. The facility itself is supposed to be launched in early 2019 and include an 11-storey hotel complex with 279 rooms, a casino and a 2,000 sq m concert hall.

Also by 2019, the Diamond Fortune Holdings Prim is expected to put into operation its Selena entertainment complex, which is now in the earthwork stage. It will comprise a 11-storey hotel with 295 rooms and a casino.