By Dr Sarath Obeysekera Chairman .Advisory Board fir EDB to develop Marine and Offshore Industry

1.     Purpose

Sri Lanka is currently facing a severe shortage of foreign currencycreating hardships to the people in the country .Conventional foreign income generating avenues such as tourism,export of garments ,coconut products ,export of teas and spices are not performing .

Earlier, a few decades ago, casinos were not that common and casino cruises were negligible. In order to find a casino, a person would have to travel to that location where they were legal. But now the gambling scenario has changed altogether and several countries have taken the initiative to legalize gambling around the world.

It is timely identify unconventional methods of generating much needed foreign currency by way of inviting foreign investors to enter into agreements with the Tourism Ministry and affiliated government institutions to entice more foreign visitors to Sri Lanka on Casino Tours

2.     Responsibility

Newly appointed minister of Investment Promotion shall be entrusted to initiate a program to fast track the tourist traffic from China and India by creating certain entertainment venue for the tourists to spend few days in cities of Galle and Colombo in addition to visiting historical locations within the country,with the support of Sri Lanka Tourism Board ,Sri Lanka Ports Authority and Sri Lanka Navy.

3.     Methodoly

”Star Cruises is a subsidiary of Genting Hong Kong which is a leading global leisure, entertainment, and hospitality company. It is a huge company in the Asia Pacific cruise industry and it has been operating its fleet since 1993. It is known to take the bold initiative of growing the region as an international cruise destination offering a large fleet of six vessels including SuperStar Virgo, SuperStar Aquarius, SuperStar Libra, SuperStar Gemini, Star Pisces and, The Taipan.

Star Cruises’ dedication to offering world-class services and facilities can be witnessed in a host of recognitions and accolades received over the past few years. These include its induction into the prestigious Travel Trade Gazette’s Travel Hall of Fame” for a ninth year in 2016 in recognition of bagging Best Cruise Operator in the Asia-Pacific” for 10 consecutive years. This cruise has recently been voted Asia’s Leading Cruise Line” at the World Travel Awards for the fifth year in a row in 2016.

There are some other names also that have its name listed in the roster of casino cruise in Singapore which include Ocean Grand Cruise Casino Singapore and Casino Star Cruise Virgo Singapore.”

Operators based in Hongkong ,Singapore ,Thailand and Malaysia carrying out business using large passenger cruises with casino operations shall be invited to operate  few cruises from Port City Marina and Galle Port.

Sri Lankan airlines or any other airline can operate tours with groups of tourists who will be given visa on arrival and arrange transport them to Port City Galle Port where they join Casino Tours of one week duration .They shall be allowed to operate Casino and other entertainments on board  once the cruises depart the port and leave Sri Lanka Jurisdiction .

With the highway being completed between Colombo Airport and Port city and with direct highway connection between Colombo and Galle ,tourists can travel to the Cruises with minimum inconvenience

The tour can reach either Maldives or Eatern Port of Trinco on the journey where tourists can spend at ease which can generate good rate of return for the Cruise Operators .

Government of Sri Lanka can charge a tax per person from the cruise operator and generate income by providing transport of tourists to start the tour

Local seafarers and trained dealers in Casino Trade can be employed in board cruise .

Certain tour operators worldwide do not charge the tourists for the tour expecting them to spend on board for other entertainments

1. No Entrance fee – You do not have to shell out few bucks to get entry into this casinos resort or else you have to pay few dollars as entry fees in land-based casino resorts. That is not the case for lido casino.
2. The minimum bet for table games is $2 – At the big casinos, minimum bets are $25 for the table games. The Casino cruises in Singapore offers a more affordable gambling option.
3. Overnight stays and VIP parties are available – This allows people to enjoy their time on the casino cruise even more.
4. Getting to the cruises is fairly easy – You can reach some of the casino cruise taking a relatively short ferry ride. Once arriving at the casino cruise you need to show the proper documents so they can board the ship.

4.    Other Income

Ports City can lease a certain area within the land area and request investors to install prefabricated buildings ( for quick mobilization) to accommodate Casino Operations for which government  can impose a licence and generate income.Other locally owned Yacht Operators based in Mirissa ,Galle and Port City can organize short trips to visit Trinco ,Kalpitiya ,Trinco ,Jaffna to add value to the visits

Local investors may also be invited to eatablish Mini Marinas within few identified fishery harbours where smaller yachts can be parked for local tourists to sail around the island

Prefabricated restaurant buildings  ( for fast mobilization) can be installed in the Port City Marina or in Galle Marina where state of the art Seafood can be served with Ceylon Crabs and Prawns which is loved by Chinese and Indian Tourists

By Dr Sarath Obeysekera

Chairman .Advisory Board fir EDB to develop Marine and Offshore Industry