Visitor Numbers and Tax Revenue Generated by Casinos

Parliament of Singapore · 8 March 2012

Official Report, 8 March 2012, Vol 88, Issue 22 · Open in the reader (summaries, search, filters)

Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (a) for 2010 and 2011 respectively, what is the total tax revenue generated by the two casinos; (b) what is the total number of visitors who have visited the two casinos so far; and (c) of these, how many are Singaporeans and how many are repeat visits by Singaporeans.

Mr Chan Chun Sing: Based on MOF estimates, the overall net increase in tax revenue from the Integrated Resort (IR) casinos was about $900 million for FY10. For the first 10 months of FY11 (between April 2011 and January 2012), the figure was also about $900 million. Both amounts have taken into account the loss of tax revenues from the resultant decline of other gaming activities such as lotteries, horse and sports betting and fruit machines operated by clubs.

Data on the total number of visitors to the two casinos reside with the IR operators. The two operators recently released data which showed that 136,434 and 137,259 unique local patrons visited Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) and Marina Bay Sands (MBS) casinos respectively in 2011. Taking into account an estimated 30% overlap in local visitors between both casinos, the number of locals who have visited the IR casinos in 2011 is thus around 200,000. The respective operators have previously released information on the proportion of local casino visitorship, and these were reported to be in the range of 20%-30% of total casino visitorship.

Most locals, even if they patronise the casinos, do not appear to visit frequently. There is however a small group of frequent gamblers which we are concerned about. MCYS is looking into introducing "circuit-breakers" and expanding third-party casino exclusion for a small group of problem gamblers and financially vulnerable local gamblers who visit the casinos frequently. MCYS will also be studying responsible gambling practices in other casino jurisdictions, such as Holland, Austria and Australia, and will consult the IR operators and public on these measures.