Minister talks up casino tourism

TOURISM Minister Martin Ferguson has endorsed casino tourism, arguing the local industry is putting its money where its mouth is, investing in new upmarket hotels and celebrity chef restaurants.

''Casino tourism is real,'' Mr Ferguson told The Age yesterday. ''The casinos are where we have the investment in new hotels.''Unfortunately, this is a fact of life - high-roller tourism is big-yield tourism.''
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Mr Ferguson's comments come as the Gillard government is in the middle of a politically charged discussion about problem gambling reforms, and as the Packer gaming empire has signalled its desire to boost casino tourism.James Packer's new recruit, former ALP national secretary Karl Bitar, has indicated that his lobbying effort in Canberra will be focused on securing more targeted tourism initiatives.

Mr Packer recently called for a more high-roller-friendly tourism marketing effort focused on Asia's affluent middle class.''In terms of Asian tourism, casinos have become the centrepiece of what smart governments think tourism is about,'' he said recently.

Government sources say the Packer empire is concerned about the impact of proposed problem gambling reform on its well-heeled clientele. Mr Ferguson's remarks suggest he is listening.The government has been trying to walk a line that can separate the social welfare aspect of problem gambling from the international tourism component.

The Tasmanian independent MP Andrew Wilkie, who is demanding pokies reforms as the price of his parliamentary support, has already proposed one Packer-friendly carve-out to his proposed ''mandatory pre-commitment'' scheme.

andnbsp;A recent report from the Parliamentary Joint Select Committee on Gambling Reform, the committee of which Mr Wilkie is chairman, suggested foreign tourists be issued with a card overriding the new betting limits to be imposed on Australian punters.Mr Ferguson yesterday broadly endorsed the Packer arguments, but he said casino tourism was only one part of a multifaceted international tourism strategy.

Source = theage.com.au