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While MBS room rates soar, casino takings dive

Other foreign tourists cannot offset slump in Chinese visitors, who make up about half of Singapore's VIP gambling

Published Wed, Nov 5, 2014 · 09:50 PM

Singapore

TOURISTS wanting to float in an infinity pool 57 stories in the sky are paying the most ever to stay at Singapore's Marina Bay Sands (MBS). The hotel's owner would rather they spend their holiday at a roulette table downstairs.

Even as room rates at Las Vegas Sands Corp's Singapore resort surged to a record US$468 a night last quarter, more than double the average in the city-state, earnings declined. The taste for luxury accommodation didn't extend to the casino floor, where high-stakes gaming revenue slumped 34 per cent from a year earlier.