Las Vegas and Macau may be the world’s top destinations for casino resorts, but a potential third could soon join them in a surprising location.
The United Arab Emirates is poised to become the first country in the Persian Gulf region to legalize casino resorts. The UAE launched a new regulatory body called the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority, aiming to create a “regulatory framework for a national lottery and commercial gambling,” according to Emirati state media WAM.
The move could be a potential headache for some, as gambling is seen as against Islam and Sharia law that often guides various governments in the Middle East. But the UAE (particularly the Emirate of Dubai) and other parts of the region have continued to relax the laws, especially for tourists.
Former MGM Resorts International CEO Jim Murren was tapped to become chairman of the GCGRA, while Kevin Mullaly, a casino industry veteran, will become CEO. But don’t take the MGM connection as a sign that the casino-resort company will get an edge in developing a mega-resort in Dubai.
Both MGM Resorts, which recently announced a new US partnership with Marriott International, and Wynn Resorts were already making plans to build their respective presences in the UAE before the government’s new gambling authority was officially announced.
Why casino brands are looking to Dubai
The UAE’s move to legalize casino gambling is not outrageous. Leaders of major casino resort owners have signaled plans to open properties in the UAE in recent years and indicated they expected legalization was just around the corner.
MGM Resorts first announced plans for a non-gaming resort in Dubai in 2017, but the direction of that property appeared to include a casino floor when CEO William Hornbuckle spoke to investors on an earnings call earlier this year.
“As far as Dubai is concerned, that ownership continues to evolve,” he said on the call this spring. “The owners want to upgrade the property, I think, with gaming in mind. But it’s up to Abu Dhabi and the national government to ultimately decide… We hope ‘any day’.” But I have to believe that when the summer is over, we will hear more news about that.”
Hornbuckle indicated a preference to develop in Dubai, but said other emirates could also be considered depending on how legalization efforts went.
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MGM’s rival Wynn Resorts also has plans for a nearly $4 billion UAE resort. The property, Wynn Al Marjan Island, is expected to comprise 1,500 rooms and villas and be located in Ras Al Khaimah, an emirate approximately 45 minutes from Dubai.
Even before the GCGRA was announced, Wynn Resorts noted that the planned resort would have a “gaming area,” which many took as a signal that gaming legalization was on the horizon.
While many have highlighted the potential contradiction of legalized gambling in a predominantly Muslim country, there are other countries in the Middle East and North Africa, such as Lebanon, Tunisia and Egypt, that allow casinos. Malaysia also allows gambling.
Murren’s Marriott connection
Murren, the new GCGRA chairman, was named the new CEO of the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection in May. The relatively new and growing fleet of superyachts sails under the brand of one of Marriott’s best-known luxury brands and is seen as a smart gateway to getting loyal hotel customers out to sea.
His twelve-plus years leading MGM Resorts were seen as a period of significant growth for the company, including the development of CityCenter – now known as the Aria Campus – in Las Vegas. Dubai World, the investment arm of the Dubai government, was a stakeholder in the Aria Campus until MGM announced plans to buy out its partner in 2021.
Before becoming CEO, Murren served as the company’s Chief Financial Officer and was instrumental in MGM’s acquisition of Mirage Resorts in 2000 and the Mandalay Resort Group in 2005. Murren’s time in the top job at MGM Resorts was also at a time in which the brand moved beyond Las Vegas and into gaming markets such as Detroit, Western Massachusetts and just outside Washington, D.C.
But it was Murren’s successor, William Hornbuckle, who led the company when it announced a plan this summer to partner with Marriott to bring 17 U.S. MGM Resorts properties into the hotel giant’s booking and loyalty programs.
Don’t start counting your Bonvoy points yet
The fact that MGM and Marriott are teaming up in the US in early October doesn’t mean Bonvoy members will have to start using their points for a stay at a casino resort in Dubai anytime soon. For starters, it will be years before anything opens its doors.
There are still limited details on what the partnership will look like at full rollout, aside from clear signals that it will be a deeper relationship than what MGM Resorts is phasing out with Hyatt at its Las Vegas properties. Unless the Marriott-MGM marriage goes global, Marriott loyalists will have to stick to the historic hotels of the world’s largest hotel company in the UAE.
Considering that some of these hotels include the St. Regis Downtown Dubai, the Dubai Edition and the Bulgari Resort Dubai, it doesn’t appear that Bonvoy members are losing out.
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