from Casino Life Magazine
August 2019
Recent growth in casino development in Cambodia has been phenomenal, particularly in the southern port city of Sihanoukville. In reviewing the latest trends in this formerly sleepy seaside town, we catch-up with Dominick Stenson, Casino Director at Queenco Hotel & Casino.
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| Casino Life Magazine August 2019 |
[DS] Too many to mention actually. But I will highlight the main changes that have occurred over this period. Firstly we have seen a transformation of the City, from the relatively modest development projects into a construction frenzy of hotels, casinos, apartment complexes, resorts and shopping centres. The landscape and skyline have dramatically changed in the 18 months since your last visit.
Regarding the changes at Queenco, we have completed the Casino extension and now have 38 operational tables along with an elegant new VIP room. Besides this we are currently preparing with our Malaysian partner an Online studio within the Casino that will accommodate 16 tables, and are looking to be ready for operation within 6 weeks for the launch of Queenco Online.
The new hotel construction adjoining the main building will finally be completed by November this year, 200 new rooms and suites,which will take us to a capacity of 399 as well as space for online offices.
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| Dominick Stenson |
[CL] In recent years, the vast majority of government approved casino licenses in Cambodia have been for Sihanoukville. Cranes still dominate the city's skyline. Has the Sihanoukville casino market been over-saturated? And how does Queenco grow within such a market?
[DS] Has it been over saturated? Quite simply, yes. What happened was the criteria for obtaining a Casino license appeared to be somewhat sketchy and relatively within reach, to say the least. This resulted in many prospective operators looking for a short term gain, knowing that regulation would stiffen and criteria regarding licence issuing would inevitably become more difficult.
Many small Casinos opened, some still operating, some changed hands quickly, many failed. Now we are seeing more and more larger scale operations opening and under construction, that have a long term strategy and the financial structure as well as the marketing support to succeed.
Queenco has always had a long term strategy and developing the property has been managed in stages as the business increased, no gimmicks, no excessive rebates, just a very good reliable product and good service to match. Emphasis on giving the clients a safe and secure environment with excellent supporting facilities, bars,restaurants,night club,beach club to name a few.
[CL] What is the mix of nationalities coming into Queenco? Do many come on their own, or are they most often part of a junket?[DS] To quote my comments in 2017 'there are now several flights per week from China'. Well there are now approximately 20+ flights from China per day! Including 2-3 per day from Macao. Vietnam and Malaysia flights are still servicing Sihanoukville daily and Bangkok direct flights started one week ago with JC Airlines.
Air Asia will also commence direct flights from Bangkok at the end of July. Junkets are a big slice of the numbers, but the opportunities available here are seeing many wealthy individuals and groups arriving here looking to invest.
At present the predominant nationality coming to Sihanoukville are Chinese. This will not change, in fact the numbers will increase as construction is completed and the properties open, as most are Chinese owned. But saying that, Malaysians have a large presence here and more and more Indonesians and Vietnamese are discovering the many business opportunities up for offer, gaming related and other.[CL] A 1996 law forbids Cambodians from gambling. Is there an effort to relax laws?
[DS] I haven't heard that this law will be relaxed. But I wouldn't be surprised if there was a Vietnamese model introduced at some later stage.
[DS] Database communication is overwhelmingly Wechat. This is the preferred method of contact and we also promote locally to our Asian customers via Wechat, particularly our slot draws and jackpots.
[CL] Are cashless payment methods such as Alipay, WeChat Pay, or others accepted by the casino? What are the most common methods for Queenco guests to access more cash?
[DS] We do not accept Alipay or Wechat Pay for gaming purposes although it is widely used in other areas of the hotel.
[CL] For those who are fortunate to have a winning visit, are there issues for them in sending funds back out? How easy is the process to send funds from their wins in Cambodia back to their home country (if they wish to)? What are their options?[DS] How they get there winnings back to their home country is something we are not involved in and frankly they never request it. Many leave on deposit for future play while local investment opportunities perhaps find a home for their winnings in many cases.
[CL] Have you faced challenges in Sihanoukville that you may not have faced in the other markets you've worked in?
On the gaming side, having to compete with unrealistic rolling commission rates that are head scratching, but designed to lure floating punters that soon find out it's not quite what it seems.
[CL] What do you see for Queenco for the foreseeable future?
[DS] I mentioned in the earlier 2017 article about the planned project on the 9 hectares of front line beach land in Otres Beach. This is still on schedule to break ground early 2020 with the resort having 2000+ rooms and suites, shopping centre, conference centre condominiums and of course a Casino. This major project will be Queenco's foreseeable future.
Casino Life Magazine appreciates the insights Dominick Stenson provides on the rapidly expanding casino market in seaside Sihanoukville.
