As Asian gaming remains muted with its post-Covid prospects murky, the time seems ripe for integrated resorts in Europe. Hard Rock International, Melco Resorts and Cordish are developing IRs a decade after Sheldon Adelson proposed creating EuroVegas in Spain with multiple resorts, casinos, golf courses and thousands of hotel rooms.
Europe already has hundreds of casinos, most catering to local markets, along with a handful of gaming destinations with wider reach. Batumi, Georgia’s Black Sea Vegas, drawing customers from neighboring Turkey and the Middle East, has attractive casinos in international branded hotels, dramatic surroundings, great food and wine, plus expansion ambitions.
Former US diplomat and broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen is Asia editor at large for ICE365, a longtime contributor to Forbes, columnist for Asia Times and author of Hong Kong On Air, a novel set in his adopted hometown during the 1997 handover about TV news, love, betrayal, high finance, and cheap lingerie. See his bio, archive and more at www.muhammadcohen.com; follow him on Facebook, Twitter @MuhammadCohen and LinkedIn.
Tags: Batumi, Cordish Companies, Europe casinos, EuroVegas, Hard Rock International, Hong Kong On Air, ICE365, Melco Resorts
Muhammad Cohen 