How Sri Lanka plans to become the new Las Vegas
It’s the south Asian island country that has long been a byword for serenity (at least when it comes to high-end tourism). From pristine beaches to ancient Buddhist sites, Sri Lanka’s unique charms have helped it draw some two million visitors a year from across the world.
Now, the country’s president, a Marxist and former radical student called Anura Kumara Dissanayake, has come up with an idea to boost those numbers even further: by turning the country into the Las Vegas of south Asia. Just last month, he hailed the opening of the new $1bn (£735m) City of Dreams casino resort in the country’s largest city, Colombo, as the start of a new era for Sri Lanka.
In fairness, it isn’t a total cultural revolution: Sri Lanka has been home to a smattering of casinos, catering largely to locals, for much of the past two decades. The main difference is that this major gambling resort towers well above its predecessors – quite literally – boasting some 800 hotel rooms, 20 different restaurants and bars, and a luxury mall.
Then there’s the grand opening party, which featured an all-singing-and-dancing appearance from Hrithik Roshan, one of the highest-paid Bollywood actors and a veritable A-lister across the region. Should the resort ever unveil its own Vegas-style walk of stars, the Indian heartthrob will presumably be one of the first names to be included.
No wonder that President Dissanayake sees the casino as helpful to the government’s vision of increasing tourism numbers by 50 per cent, partly by appealing to Chinese and Indian high rollers who are keen for a game of blackjack or baccarat.
You can also see his administration is prepared to think outside the box when it comes to public finances. Sri Lanka is still reeling from a financial crisis in 2022, which saw the previous government default on some of the country’s debts before seeking a large bailout from the International Monetary Fund. With tourism representing 4 per cent of Sri Lanka’s GDP, a surge in visits from gamblers could be just the token.
Naturally, the move hasn’t gone down brilliantly with Sri Lanka’s admirers, though tour operators insist it won’t be a major issue. “While casino expansion isn’t aligned with our preferences, it doesn’t concern us at the moment, given the vast majority of the island remains beautifully pristine, authentic, and incredibly welcoming to visitors,” says Cherylle Sargent, from south Asia specialists Red Dot Tours.
“Casinos generally operate in confined spaces with little impact on the life outside,” says Harji Singh, who plans high-end tours to India and Sri Lanka. “We don’t expect it to have an adverse impact on our clients. On the other hand, it will bring in more visitors to the country, who may also travel around and see a bit of this beautiful island.” Particularly if they get lucky at the tables.
Perhaps they shouldn’t be too surprised given that Sri Lanka is far from the only country turning to casinos to boost tourism. Casinos have been opening at a dizzying pace across south-east Asia, including Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines. In July, the oil-rich former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan announced it would be overturning a decades-long ban on gambling venues.
Then there’s the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which has greenlit the opening of the first major casino (operated by Vegas magnates Wynn Resorts, no less) in the quieter emirate of Ras al Khaimah. While nearby Dubai has been a trailblazer in liberalising the Islamic world for decades, the casino opening – currently scheduled for 2027 – is still a massive shift, not just for the UAE but for the wider region.
In fairness to the Emiratis, there are some models of casinos operating in more conservative countries. On a visit to Cairo some years ago, I was surprised to see a branch of the high-end Mayfair casino Crockfords. Though I also found out that entry is limited strictly to non-nationals, with all gambling taking place in US dollars rather than the Egyptian pound – presumably to keep the local currency away from such social harms. Even then, it’s miles from being the strangest casino resort on earth. Even North Korea has casinos: one within the basement of the notorious Yanggakdo hotel in Pyongyang (the towering property used to house foreign tourists on carefully guided, regime-approved tours) and another in the special economic zone of Rason. The latter is close to the Chinese border and has historically operated a much more liberal border policy than the rest of the country.
At the same time, opening up a booming casino resort is easier said than done. The twin giants of Macau and Las Vegas may bring in more than 80 million visitors between them (and almost $40bn in gambling revenue each year), but both are mega-destinations in their own right. In some ways the casinos are dwarfed by the billion-dollar hotel complexes and huge investments in sports and entertainment.
While Vegas has the Formula One and a state-of-the-art American football stadium (which hosted the Super Bowl last year), Macau now has NBA games, regular concerts from K-pop superstars, and its own Miami-style art biennale. In other words, if the City of Dreams wants to be spoken of in the same sentence, it will need to make sure that Bollywood’s answer to Ryan Reynolds isn’t the last A-lister to be seen in town.
At least Sri Lanka does have the advantage of being within touching distance of two major markets where casinos are strictly regulated. Its closest neighbour, India, has a massive appetite for gambling, as evidenced by Narendra Modi’s government recently overseeing a clampdown on sports betting apps. The country does have some legal casinos (including in Goa) but nothing on the scale of the City of Dreams.
Source: Robert Jackman / The Telegraph
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