Inside Asian Gaming

IAG JAPAN AUG 2019 20 COVER STORY The Star has a clear message for those pushing a second Gold Coast casino: there ain’t room for two. ザ スターはゴールドコーストの2つ目のカ ジノ建設を推進する人たちに明確なメッセ ージを送っている。「2つが共存する余地は ない」と。 S panning a 414-square kilometer parcel of land in Queensland’s southeast corner and with its 57km of coastline a picture perfect postcard of white sandy beaches on aqua blue ocean, Australia’s Gold Coast has visions of becoming the country’s next international tourist destination. But exactly how it plans to achieve that remains the billion dollar question. Seven years since the state government announced it would offer two gaming licenses to develop world class integrated resorts in regional Queensland, including a second casino on the Gold Coast, there is still no clarity as to likely development sites, operator candidates or whether the project will go ahead at all. The government says it will, having put the second casino discussion back on the agenda in March when it called for Expressions of Interest in developing a Global TourismHub. The EOI, coming almost two years after the original process was terminated due to environmental concerns over the chosen site, essentially means that Queensland’s grand tourism plan finds itself back where it all began in 2012. ク イーンズランド東南端の414km 2 の土地に広が り、絵葉書のように美しい青い海と白い浜の海 岸線が57kmも続くオーストラリアのゴールドコ ーストは、オーストラリアの次の世界的観光地に なるというビジョンを持っている。しかしそれをど う達成するかという明確な計画はまだ難しい問題のまま残されて いる。 州政府が地方のクイーンズランドで世界に通用する統合型リゾ ートを開発するためのゲーミングライセンスを2社に付与し、そこ にはゴールドコーストでの2つ目のカジノが含まれることを発表し てから7年、開発候補地、運営候補企業、またはその計画自体が進 められるのかどうかについて、これまでのところ一切に明らかにさ れていない。 州政府は3月に国際観光拠点開発への関心表明を呼びかけ、2 つ目のカジノに関する議論を議題に戻したことで、計画は前進す ると話す。当初のプロセスが選択地の環境への懸念によって中止 But the landscape has changed since then. In 2015, while politicians were distracted by a state election, Star Entertainment Group – owners of the Gold Coast’s original Jupiter’s casino – threw a spanner in the works by announcing its own redevelopment plans, which four years and AU$1 billion later has seen the long-neglected property transformed into The Star Gold Coast. Now the company has a clear message for those pushing a second Gold Coast casino: there ain’t room for two. GLITTER STRIP Located about 80km south of Brisbane, the Gold Coast has long battled contrasting identities. Blessed with some of Australia’s most spectacular ocean beaches, it is both a popular family holiday destination boasting four famous theme parks – Dreamworld, Seaworld, Wet’n’Wild and Warner Bros. Movie World – and a colorful adults' playground highlighted by the bar and club strip of Cavill Avenue and the annual schoolies celebration that sees thousands of high school graduates converge for a