Star Entertainment chief calls for investment boost to attract Chinese tourists

Tuesday 1st of March 2016

Australia-listed Star Entertainment Group’s chief executive Matt Bekier has called for the Queensland Government to increase investments in order to attract cashed-up Chinese and Indian tourists, local media reports.

Bekier, who spoke at an Australian Institute of Company Directors lunch on Tuesday, said the state must prepare for a tourism boom.

“The reality is we need to have a lot more hotel competition, partners that have the capability to sell those rooms,” he said as quoted by The Australian.

In 2015, Chinese tourist numbers reached over one million, second to New Zealand as a key tourism market.

Bekier said infrastructure needed to be upgraded, along with new restaurants and six-star hotels in order to sustain additional tourists for its upcoming Gold Coast development.

“It’s a big opportunity not just for us, but all of southeast Queensland,” Bekier added. “We need other people to build more hotels, more tourist attractions, more food and beverage options, places other than Tangalooma. We are working with the tourism industry to try and activate the sector so we can sell all of southeast Queensland, offering an authentic, unique proposition that allows us to compete with Melbourne, Macau and Singapore.”

Recently, Star Entertainment announced plans to build a second tower at its Gold Coast Jupiters Casino site. The group has revealed it had begun the planning process for its new 200-meter hotel tower, which will be in addition to an AU$345 million (US$245 million) refurbishment of the existing hotel as well as a 17-story luxury tower currently under construction.

Bricks & Mortar Investment Chinese Tourism VIP