Operator News
Andorra – Genting could invest €140m in integrated casino resort in Andorra
By Phil - 18 June 2018
Genting Casinos UK plans to invest €140m in the construction of an integrated casino-resort in Andorra, which would make it the largest foreign investment in the history of the Principality.
Genting Casinos UK is one of nine operators that have entered the international competition for the construction of the first and only casino in Andorra, whose bidding process is in the final phase and could be decided upon in the coming weeks.
The Genting Grand Casino Andorra project foresees the largest investment – the other proposals are valued between €12m and €18m. It’s offer includes a gastronomic market to host local restaurateurs, a ‘spa’ specialised in anti-aging therapies and two floors for private rooms as well as suites for elite players.
Out of the projected €140m of the total investment in the project, €90m will go to the casino, €15m to the gastronomic space and the medical spa while the remaining €35 would be used for the construction of the residential tower.
“The experience of Genting has shown that the traditional casino as it was known until now is obsolete, hence the commitment to an integrated resort to complement all the services that the country can give to tourists,” Stephanie Steinbrecht-Aleix Relationship Manager of Genting Grand Casino Andorra said in a statement.
The group’s proposal could generate a thousand jobs, 600 new jobs in the construction phase and 400 when the facilities are opened, and increase the country’s GDP by almost 1 per cent.
The British subsidiary Genting Casinos UK holds 70 per cent of the Grand Casino of Andorra, while the remaining 30 per cent of the capital is held by the Andorran businessman Marc Giebels van Bekestein, and British investors David Gray and President of Arc Resorts Mark Vlassopulos.
The promoters of this project believe that the casino could become “an international benchmark” and an attraction for tourists from around the world.
Nine international business groups have put forward bids for the new casino licence in Andorra, including Cirsa (Spain), Genting (Malaysia) Sithel (Luxembourg) and French companies Partouche and Barriere as well as a group made up of local business people.
According to The Andorran Gaming Control Board (CRAJ), operators must first show the availability of land, building or premises for the casino and show that it must have at least 2,000 square meters for the public, not including terraces and outdoor spaces. Once this has been established the board, along with other government bodies, will award points based on a number of key criteria. These include architectural design, location, the quality of the proposed project, its integration into the landscape, the size of the casino, catering services. The number of jobs it will create and the overall economic impact of the new project.
In 2013, the government first gave the go ahead to a single casino licence. Casinos had until then been banned from the Catalan-speaking country, which operates as a tax haven. In January 2015, the legislative committee of Andorra completed the draft of a bill that paved the way for a land-based casino and online gaming in the tiny Pyrenees country, located on the border between France and Spain. The Minister of the Presidency, Antoni Riberaygua, said at the time that the opening of the gambling market in Andorra would be achieved gradually and expressed his hope that the addition of a casino would boost tourism to the principality, which has over 10m visitors each year.
