Gaming in Thailand Wouldn’t Bring Immediate Benefits to Hotels
Skift Take
Maybank Securities forecasts significant revenue potential for Thai gambling complexes, but warns of initial profitability challenges and limited tourism industry benefits.
Maybank Securities said that Thai entertainment (gambling) complexes could yield approximately THB187 billion (US$5.14 billion) in annual revenue, equivalent to roughly 1% of Thailand’s GDP. A draft bill on this is expected soon to be submitted to parliament. Maybank said while the complexes will include numerous hotel rooms, that may not yield profits initially, aiming to draw in gamblers. They also do not believe the rest of the tourism industry will benefit in the initial stages. If this follows Singapore’s path, property prices will rise as property prices in Singapore surged 30% year on year in 2007, preceding the opening of casinos in 2010. The primary beneficiary could be the airports in Thailand. Maybank warned hotels near the complexes may not experience significant gains from a potential increase in room rates. Originally the thought was three major complexes but somehow the bill is morphing into five to eight gambling complexes across multiple provinces.
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