Tony Fung’s Aquis Casino Resort is one of the most expensive construction projects ever seen in Cairns. It will bring in generous tourism revenue and benefit the local economy but university researchers are critical of the potential effect that the project will have on problem gambling rates.
Francis Markham, a PhD candidate at the Australian National University, Martin Young, a lecturer at Southern Cross University Centre for Gambling Education and Research, have compiled a report predicting how the casino will operate. Both researchers are dubious that the casino will rely on profits generated by Asian high rollers, as proposed by Tony Fung.
Instead, they believe that the venue will derive most of its revenue from its 1500 poker machines, which will attract local players rather than international VIPs. “The pokies in the Aquis casino will overwhelmingly be used by locals,” reads their report. “Putting an additional 1500 pokies in Cairns is likely to extract a staggering amount of economic resources out of the community”.
The researchers believe that the new pokies will result in an additional $56 million in poker machine spending annually by the year 2021. This will amount to every adult in the city spending an extra $240 on pokies a year. While the casino aims to attract Asian high rollers, it will be just as attractive to local residents who have a taste for pokies.
Research shows that poker machine revenue is more important to profits than high roller spending, so there are concerns that the new casino will rely on pokie spending. The casino operator has spoken out against these claims. According to the Cairns Post, an Aquis spokesperson says that the resort facilities will be the main attraction for locals, such as the sporting facilities, shopping mall and theatres.
The developer maintains that it is not depending on locals for gambling revenue and instead wants to attract them to the other amenities offered at the resort.
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