Star tzar’s quiet plan
THE partner in a multi billion dollar Brisbane hotel precinct is tight-lipped about whether it has cast its hat into the ring to develop a second casino in Cairns.
In the Far North yesterday to drum up supplier and tourist operator interest in the Queen’s Wharf project, Star Entertainment CEO Matt Bekier could “neither confirm nor deny” if the company was involved.
“There is a process underway and under the terms of that process I am not in a position to comment on that,” Mr Bekier said. “I can’t speak on the Cairns market but I would make the observation that you take the larger urban markets – they only can sustain one casino.
“The reason for that is the industry structure leaves enough room to build a product that is globally competitive.
“It is trying to bring people from around the world to those destinations.”
His comments follow earlier frustration over lack of clarity about a second casino on the Gold Coast.
“If you try to change the market structure like is being kicked around on the Gold Coast then the casino will have to compete with the local market.”
He said the Brisbane project required a “symbiotic” relationship with the Far North in order to carve out a market share in China.
Australia pulls the same number of visitors as a small alpine European country.
“There is this massive opportunity – we need to give them a reason to come to Australia instead of North America and Switzerland, which gets the same amount of Chinese visitors as Australia does,” Mr Bekier said.
“(Queen’s Wharf) will make us bigger than Marina Bay in Singapore.”
He said Far Northern products and operators could fit in well with that space.
“For us to be relevant in the global marketplace we need to bring authentic experiences,” he said.
“Cairns is a fantastic destination where new experiences can be offered at the very high end,” he said.
“So we have contacted suppliers and tourism operators to say ‘you tell us if you want to be involved and what it is that makes you special.”