Bad things have a way of happening to Wayne Newton‘s property. Most recently, his yacht sank at its Lake Mead berth. This inspired the Las Vegas Review-Journal to lead its story with, “Mr. Las Vegas’ yacht sleeps with the fishes.” His 65-foot houseboat was observed to be down by the stern last Friday and sank within 20 minutes. The news undoubtedly cast a pall over Newton’s Bora Bora vacation. Throw in financial disputes involving his Cadillac and private jet, and Newton just doesn’t have good vehicular karma.
Cairns, the resort capital of the Australian state of Queensland is slumping badly in terms of hotel occupancy. Developer Tony Fung‘s counterintuitive solution is to flood the market with rooms, building a $4 billion resort (including a golf course, and 5,185 hotel rooms and villas). It’s part of a larger thaw in Australia‘s casino industry, which is coming off a 17-year freeze. James Packer is also looking at Cairns for its expansion prospects. Swimming in a $7.3 billion deficit, the Queensland government would doubtless be only too happy to see Packer and others get into the market.
The endgame is to woo gamblers away from Macao, which earned this dart from one consultant: “Everyone’s got a marble floor, chandelier and a Chinese restaurant now. If you had a pocket full of money and you were looking to establish a new destination in Asia, I don’t know Australia would be the first cab off the rank.”
Anyone who maintains that casinos don’t benefit their host communities should be required to read this story. Or this one.
