There is speculation Dubai could allow a slew of resort-style casinos
Dubai May Become the ‘Las Vegas of the Middle East’
By Edmund Bower
Beirut
Dubai could become the Las Vegas of the Middle East after the United Arab Emirates’ rulers appointed a new gaming authority amid speculation it will decriminalize gambling and allow a slew of resort-style casinos .
As part of its effort to triple tourism revenue, the UAE is expected to wave aside religious criticism and allow foreign investors to help build hotel resorts where foreigners can gamble.
With its air-conditioned skyscrapers, 12-lane highways and desert landscape, Dubai already draws comparisons with Nevada’s Sin City. The sheikhdom’s tax-free, money-centric lifestyle is a draw for international sports stars and oligarchs alike. Superyachts fill its harbors and gas guzzlers dominate the roads in a city that, despite its humble origins, has become a playground for the rich .
And if current gambling regulations are amended then Dubai could come to closely resemble Nevada’s most populous city. Since 2018, it has already played host to a Caesars Palace – the only branch not to offer gaming amenities – while MGM Resorts are constructing a 1,000-room hotel with 200,000 square feet of space that its CEO says could be converted into a casino, should current regulations change.
In April this year, Wynn Resorts unveiled plans for the UAE's first hotel with gaming facilities, in the small northern emirate of Ras al Khaima - Credit Wynn Resorts
“It’s an exciting time for the UAE,” said Andrew Tottenham, the managing director of the international gaming consultants Tottenham and Co. “I don’t think this decision was taken lightly. I’m sure there are people who are not positive about this move.”
Islam prohibits gambling and, under current regulations, anyone caught gambling within the UAE could face up to two years in prison. Industry insiders say that Emirati authorities are discussing caveats to make decriminalization more amenable to its religious critics, such as prohibiting Emirati citizens from entering casinos.
The move towards legalizing gambling “is a natural step if you look at what Dubai has become”, said Tottenham. The UAE is investing heavily in tourism as part of an ongoing diversification effort away from an oil-based economy amid competition from other growing Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia.
High-spend visitors
Last year, tourism accounted for nine per cent of the Gulf nation’s GDP, netting 167 billion UAE dirhams (£36 billion). By 2031, the government hopes to increase this to 450 billion dirhams (£97 billion).
Tottenham said that the introduction of resort-style casinos would fit well with the UAE’s current model for attracting high-spend visitors. “Within a four-hour flight time, there’s a lot of wealth,” he said. “Already, Dubai is a destination. This is just an extension of that strategy, and it will attract an adult market.”
Gaming analysts believe that the Emirates’ potential annual gambling revenue could top $6 billion (£4.76 billion), not far off the record $8.3 billion (£6.58 billion) raked in last year on the Las Vegas Strip. “It’s a pretty good market,” said Tottenham.
But analysts warn that the comparison to Vegas may be inaccurate. “People fly to Las Vegas because it’s Las Vegas,” said Tottenham, “and people will fly eight hours, 10 hours, 12 hours.”
The UAE might not draw the same numbers – and it may not want to.
Unlike Las Vegas, the UAE is likely to target “high-end, high-net worth individuals,” said Paul Girvan, the CEO of PKC Gaming and Leisure Consultancy. “It’s going to be table-game heavy rather than slot heavy.” Girvan also suspects that future Emirati casino-resorts could focus more on dining and theatre shows than on drinking and gambling.
A better comparison might be with Singapore, which legalized gambling to establish two high-end casinos in 2010: the Marina Bay Sands and the Resorts World Sentosa. Unlike the libertine gambling atmosphere promoted in Las Vegas, in Singapore, gamblers can be fined 1,000 Singaporean dollars (£585) for smoking and local, low-income gamblers can only enter a number of times a year.
And there is no guarantee that Dubai will become the national focal point for gambling. In April this year, Wynn Resorts unveiled plans for the first hotel in Emirati history with gaming facilities. The $3.9 billion (£3.09 billion) resort is scheduled to open in 2027, not in Dubai or Abu Dhabi, but in the small northern emirate of Ras al Khaima.
The resort will feature a high-end “shopping esplanade”, an events center and a theatre. Wynn Resorts says that the hotel’s gaming floor will take up just four per cent of its total size. But in an interview with Reuters last year, Craig Scott Billings, the company’s CEO, said that the hotel’s casino “is shaping up to be somewhat larger than Wynn Las Vegas”. – TheTelegraph
