For months, James Packer had his sights set on opening a casino resort in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo. Things seemed to be going according to plan, but the local government has announced that it will not allow the country’s new luxury resorts to house casino facilities. Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapakse has confirmed that casinos will not be permitted at the three new resorts that will be opening up in Colombo.

While he did not state any explicit reasons for the decision, it is believed that there are major concerns that the casino will attract prostitution. When the casino resort projects were first announced, local religious groups spoke out against them. They claimed that the venues would end up becoming homes to prostitution, but casino tycoon Ravi Wijeratne argued that he would never allow these types of activities to take place in on his property.

Mr Wijeratne and James Packer planned to work together on the new casino resort, but now their development will not go forward. Prostitution is illegal across Sri Lanka, but sex workers are often found frequenting gaming venues in the country. With news of a new, large-scale casino opening up in Colombo, religious groups have been concerned that they will attract even more prostitution.

Neither James Packer nor any other representative of Crown Casinos has made a statement about the news. We can assume that the casino operator will now set its sights on other Asian markets, such as Japan. The Japanese government is making plans to legalise casino gambling and Crown Casinos has expressed interest in being one of the first developers to open a casino in the country.

There are still plenty more international opportunities for expansion at Crown Casinos, and the operator is also in the process of expanding across Australia as well.

About the Author

George Anderson
Author George, has over 25+ years’ experience in the Pokies and Casinos industry throughout Australia and New Zealand. Loves to research new Pokies games on the block and follows announcements from top industry providers about their upcoming releases. As soon as a new interesting pokie game appears on his radar, George is there to check it out and give you the scoop before anyone else and tell you about all casino sites where can play the latest game. Before this gig, George worked as Pokie game tester, making him an ideal candidate for this genre of work. He is also an animal lover and a proud owner of three dogs.