The Sri Lankan parliament is about to approve right now a tax amnesty for the island’s first foreign casino venture, a $350 million investment backed by Australian James Packer’s Crown Ltd. The 400-room waterfront project will join a increasing lineup of luxury Colombo hotels, including a $400 million beachfront Shangri-La, the Taj group’s upgraded five-star Samudra Colombo, plus a John Keells Holdings Plc. gaming resort.

“I’ve been coming back to Sri Lanka (SNGPYOY) for its beaches and cultural heritage websites,” Fernandez, a 42-year old Mumbai resident, stated whilst purchasing with her daughter and husband at Odel, a department retailer within a wealthy Colombo enclave recommended by the Lonely Planet as a spot to shop together with the glamorous. “Casinos are going to be yet another explanation.”

For decades a location for backpackers, religious pilgrims and beach lovers, Sri Lanka is constructing high-end hotels and casinos to woo wealthier tourists from India and China as it seeks to emulate the accomplishment of Singapore and Macau. The push is a part of a drive to spur an financial revival after the government ended a 26-year civil war against the separatist Tamil Tigers in 2009, and requires aim at the developing affluence of Asian travelers.
Lawmakers Debate

Sri Lanka’s lawmakers will debate and pass an order to give a 10-year tax exemption for the Crown venture inside the D.R. Wijewardena Mawatha waterfront area close to the capital’s financial district, in accordance with the parliament workplace. Billionaire Packer’s gaming resort, that will also include things like fine dining restaurants, could almost double tourism income to $1.7 billion a year, in line with Capital Alliance Ltd.

“This is what Sri Lanka tourism desires: mega projects bringing inside a new brand of vacationers,” said Sanjeewa Fernando, an analyst at CT Smith Stockbrokers Pvt. in Colombo. “Tourism revenues will be driven up and it’ll bring in reasonably richer vacationers. Just like together with the casinos in Singapore, the Crown project will bring Sri Lanka tourism to a brand new phase.”

There’s a increasing marketplace. Wealth amongst Asia-Pacific millionaires could leading North America’s as soon as subsequent year, in accordance with a report published final month by Cap Gemini SA and Royal Bank of Canada. Asians with at the least $1 million in investable assets are set to find out their riches climb to $15.9 trillion by 2015, the 2013 Asia-Pacific Wealth Report says.
Beach Front

Hong Kong-based Shangri-La Asia Ltd. is developing an upmarket resort on Colombo’s primary “Galle Face” beach front. Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces is spending $21 million to upgrade the Samudra Colombo to become on par with its luxury brand of hotels, in accordance with Sujit Samant, director of sales in Sri Lanka.

The government in July supplied tax concessions for any more-than $650 million integrated resort by John Keells, Sri Lanka’s greatest diversified company. Positioned across the Beira Lake from the Crown project, it can consist of a luxury hotel also a shopping mall and gaming and entertainment facilities, based on a government gazette.

“Sri Lanka was, on account of its challenges, off the radar, and now it’s around the radar,” Vikram Madhok, managing director of luxury travel company Abercrombie & Kent India Ltd., said in New Delhi. The enterprise has entered a joint venture in Sri Lanka.
Risk Averse

Sri Lanka is often a latecomer compared with other Asian destinations, just after years of conflict put off risk averse visitors and hampered infrastructure development.

Macau, which is half the size of Manhattan, earned $38 billion in casino revenue final year, six times a lot more than the Las Vegas Strip. The city is the only location in China where casino gambling is legal and it gets two-thirds of its gaming revenue from high-rollers.

In Singapore, Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Genting Singapore Plc poured far more than $10 billion into the two gaming resorts that opened in 2010 just after the country lifted a casino ban. The nation’s economic growth surged to a record of practically 15 percent that year.

Sri Lanka isn’t alone in planning to follow Macau and Singapore. A Japanese lawmakers group plans to submit a bill together with the aim to legalize casinos.

The South Asian nation risks falling behind if its tourism projects are delayed, said Bimanee Meepagala, a Colombo-based analyst at NDB Aviva Wealth Management Ltd.

“Sri Lanka is facing tough competition in this spectrum,” she stated. “We’ve got to get the product out fast, as our economy can’t afford delays.”
Yellen Nomination

Elsewhere, Australian consumer confidence slipped in October, a private report showed. Industrial production in the U.K. and Germany is likely to have climbed from a month earlier in August, according to Bloomberg surveys. Inside the U.S., President Barack Obama will nominate Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Janet Yellen to head the central bank, a White House official stated in an e-mailed statement.

Services accounted for about 59 percent of Sri Lanka’s gross domestic product inside the second quarter. The nation’s $59 billion economy is forecast by the government to grow 7.5 percent this year.

Integrated resorts like Singapore’s can help Sri Lanka attract far more vacationers, in line with Purasisi Jinadasa, an analyst at Capital Alliance in Colombo. The Crown project could help the island attract a targeted 2.5 million visitors by 2016, he mentioned.
Indian Market place

A market is close at hand in India, where laws limiting gambling make Sri Lanka an attractive venue for vacationers like Fernandez.

Tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka, one of Conde Nast Traveller’s destinations to watch in 2012, rose 17.5 percent to a record 1 million last year. Arrivals climbed 14 percent to 711,449 inside the eight months through August from a year earlier, based on the tourist board. Visitors from India, Sri Lanka’s greatest industry, increased 29 percent in August from a year earlier, and those from China jumped 74 percent.

Jetwing Travels, a unit of the island’s largest resort operator, started employing Chinese nationals as tourists in the East Asian nation surged, mentioned manager Tharindu Punchihewa. Some of these visitors are arriving on private jets, he said.

“We have seen a development inside the individual travel segment, with families that don’t want to join groups, but are willing to spend additional for better hotels and comforts,” Punchihewa said. “With branded hotels and the casino project, Sri Lanka can tap the high-end traffic.”