Vietnam Locals Contribute 5% to GGR in Kien Giang Province

Vietnam is keen to make casino resorts work, but to make them work, the country would need to first assess if these projects could be feasible. During the pandemic, Vietnam decided to make an exemption for the Corona Resort & Casino and allow local players to participate in gambling activity. The county was interested to see if there is a local demand for gambling and if that was the case, how much can local gamblers contribute to an already cash-strapped economy due to COVID-19.

Vietnam Collects Slim Margin from Local Casino players

The Corona Resort & Casino pilot program resulted in $5.9 million in revenue, or around VND141 billion. This is the revenue for the full three years of the pilot program which launched in January 2019, ahead of the pandemic. Corona Resort & Casino has submitted a detailed report which explained how it appealed to local customers and to what extent. A second property that was also supposed to welcome gamblers hailing from Vietnam has not yet opened in the province of Quang Ninh Province.

Seeing these results, the property based in Van Don district may actually be loath to act on its initial promise. The total revenue located in the Kien Giang Province, where Corona is based, generated revenues of VND2.7 trillion or $113 million. A total of VND1.7 trillion or $71 million have been paid in tax back to the government.

Vietnam is not letting up on the idea to create casinos that are accessible to local players either. An initial plan to end the pilot program in 2022 has now been extended by an additional two years and is expected to run through 2024. While local demand is clearly small, there are good chances that it may continue to improve.

Finding the Right Formula for Casinos in Vietnam

Besides, giving locals the option to gamble in some of the country’s casinos is a good way to fight illegal gambling operations or even create additional jobs on the back of higher revenue. The 5% generated by locals may not be necessarily indicative of how much other provinces could generate.

Population density and local marketing appeal will be contributing factors to galvanizing locals to try their luck at local casinos.  Vietnam is also one of the rumored destinations of future projects by the likes of Wynn Resorts, MGM Resorts, and Las Vegas Sands with none of these companies actually making a formal commitment.

However, the strong regulatory headwinds in Macau could be reason enough for big companies to consider creating a new hub in Asia for the sake of gambling, hoping to avoid business disruptive regulations.