台灣博奕觀光產業發展趨勢探討
A Study of Current Gaming Industry
Development in Taiwan
- Case Studies of Las Vegas, Macau & Pen-hu County
Southern Taiwan University
Hospitality management Dept.
梁仲正 博士
Outlines:
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1. Successful gaming development experience in
Las Vegas
2. The past experience in Macau
3. Singapore development strategies
4. What can Pen-hu can or can’t do
5. Both sides for gaming industry toward society
6. Suggestions for future casino hotels’
development
Las Vegas -Transformation
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In 1905, the construction of railway and gold miner.
In 1931, Hoover Dam construction attracted more people.
Las Vegas played as one of the most important role on
MICE industry, the annual occupancy rate reported 93.2％,
（USA average 60％）(Liu, 2007)。
The concept and operation model of Integrated Resort (IR)
has expended to other regions in Asia, such as Macau,
Singapore, Vietnam.., Japan… 。
In 1991, mileage stone for the opening of Sands Expo
Mr. Sheldon Adelson – MICE + hotel + casino
Venetian Hotel, 2005, Average room rate 225 USD (Liu, 2007)
There are 110,000 hotel rooms in place (UNLV, 1996).
In 2002, visitors 34 millions, 100 times than residents。
Las Vegas – Gaming capital of the world
The majority casino revenue comes from ：
 High price show room, gourmet restaurants, room fees,
meeting and conference, shopping center…
 Slot operations generated higher income than table games
(Chao, 2009)
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Sands Casino Hotel Macau declares 90% revenue derived
from table games, and Venetian Macau reported 80% from
gaming revenue or 70% came from VIP rooms (Chao, 2009)
FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO GAMING INDUSTRY GROWTH: ( UNLV, 1996)
 Increasing productivity gives individuals more leisure time
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The prevalence of double-income households.
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Spent on services,including leisure and entertainment
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A new entertainment and leisure product.
MGM casino & hotel
5000 rooms
Gaming revenue
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Vegas revealed per visitor contributed average 160 USD on
gaming, which consisted 7% for tourism gain (Nevada
gaming tax 6.5%);
However, visitors spent 5 times expenditure (770 USD) on
others than gaming expense in 2004, resulted in 83% for
state tourism revenue (Chao, 2009) 。
Nevada generated 70% tax revenue from casino related industries
State of Nevada indicate that 60+% of all gaming revenue is
being generated by slot operations. (UNLV,1996)
Foreigners lose $500 per visit to Korea, and gaming
revenues exceed $200 millions a year (Hashimoto, 2008).
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Visitors reported 23 millions to Vegas in 1992.
1998 over 30 millions visitors came to this gaming city,
or over 500 thousands tourists a week。
In 2002,about 34 millions visitors to Las Vegas。
1/9 are MICE tourists, 11% children, buffet 10 USD.
Las Vegas has transformed into a international tourism
mega instead of gambling simply (Hsieh, 2002)
Indian reservation => open more city casinos
Mississippi riverboat casino => more riverboat gaming
NEVADA:
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THE BIRTHPLACE OF MODERN GAMING
1941 The El Rancho
1942 Sahara Hotel & Casino
1946 Flamingo – Bugsy
(Rudd & Marshall, 2000).
1994 – MGM, 5000 rooms, arenas seat up to 17,000
for concerts and sporting event
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Las Vegas crime rate 5%
lower than NYC & CHICAGO
(Kilby, Fox, & Lucas, 2005).
(Hiesh, 2002)
Extremely High Competition at Las Vegas
THE LAS VEGAS STRIP
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The Most (MGM Grand Hotel) 5000 rooms
Mirage Casino Hotel – Volcano
1999 Bellagio Casino Hotel- Water dance
Treasure Island Casino Hotel – pirate ships
Pyramid
Stratosphere Casino Hotel
Caesars Palace Hotel- shopping forum
Paris Casino Hotel - Eiffel Tower
1998 New York New York- Empire State Build-..
(Rudd & Marshall, 2000).
Paris Casino Hotel - Eiffel Tower
Bellagio Casino Hotel
Excalibur Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas
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Las Vegas visitors average stayed 2-3 days :
- therefore, it would be very important to maintain them stay
longer for casino operations
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MICE
Weekend families vacationers
Entertainment: Buffet, bands, shows, shopping…
There is no O’clock inside the casinos if possible so
that people keep playing and forgetting about the time,
even in the day times.
Ventilation system provides more 60% Oxygen than usual
this could only energize people maintain exciting
condition. (Levez , 2001; Liu, 2007)
Figure1. Nevada Gaming Control Organizational Structure
(Kilby, Fox, & Lucas, 2005)
History of Gaming Control in Nevada
Gaming Control board:
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
at least 5-7 years experience
Investigates player disputes
Reviews surveillance systems
Inspects and approves gaming tokens
Arrests anyone attempting to cheat the casino, and
Reviews all existing and new work card permits..
Nevada State Gaming Licenses:
 Restricted
 Non-restricted
 Hotel Room Requirements- have at least 200 rooms before the
state will issue the license
(Kilby, Fox, & Lucas, 2005)
Gaming Control Board
(Rudd & Marshall, 2000)
The Nevada Gaming Control Board was formed in 1959.
 The primary purpose of this board was the enforcement of the
regulations for licensing and operation of gaming establishments.
The divisions of the board are:
 Administration – issuing license …
 Audit (the largest division) – internal control, cash procedure…
 Special Investigation and Intelligence Investigations-crime, gambling problems…
 Electronic Services – monitoring slot…
 Tax and License - tax, license fees…
 Economic Research  and Enforcement – 24 hours inspection, arrest…
Typical casino structure
(Kilby, Fox, & Lucas, 2005)
President
V.P.Casino
Operations
Games
Manager
Slot
Manager
Director of
Caino Mkt
Keno
Manager
Poker
Manager
Director of
Race&
Sports
Typical casino structure
Table Games:
 Games Manager
 Shift Manager
 Pit Manager
 Floor person
 Dealer
 Pit Clerk
Slots:
 Slot Manager
 Shift Manager (Slots)
 Head Slot Mechanic
 Floor person
 Change attendants
 Booth cashiers
Casino Marketing:
Director of Casino Marketing
Marketing Hosts
Security and Surveillance :
Security Officer
Director of Surveillance
Surveillance Officer
REVENUE AND PROFIT PER SQUARE FOOT
Department
Margin %
--------------------------------------- Slots
60-70
 Table game
15-20
 Keno
25-30
 Race and sports
15-25
 Poker
20-30
(Kilby, Fox, & Lucas, 2005)
REVENUE PER UNIT PER DAY
Total Win
Win Per
Game
Total Units
(000)
Unit/Day
-------------------------------------------------------------- Twenty-One 1155
649,906
1542
 Craps
174
276,027
4346
 Roulette
192
187,342
2673
 Slots
47036 2112,799
123
(Kilby, Fox, & Lucas, 2005)
Comps & Rebate Policy
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A player who loses $100,000 should have a 19%
rebate
That is a a 10% discount plus
a $9000 airfare award –
and RFB (room, food, beverage) awards he/she may
have
A player cannot lose $100,000 because the casino
will rebate 19% of it for sure —and probably award
RFB as well. (Kilby, Fox, & Lucas, 2005)
Comps- RFB (room, food, beverage) awards
Floorpersons use four criteria when rating
player:
 Buy-in amount to the game
 Duration of play
 Average bet
 Largest bet
(UNLV, 1996)
Entertainment & customer service
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Barbra Streisand
Frank Sinatra
Wayne Newton
Siegfried and Roy Circus & Magic Act
Musicals, boxing… (Levez , 2001).
The casino industry has changed its customer focus from high
rollers and grind customers to family entertainment.
Entertainment is now being used as a catalyst to bring people
into the world of gambling and fantasy.
The convention and visitors bureau still prefers advertising that
establishes the city as an entertainment mecca and not a casino
destination
(Plume, 1999; Rudd & Marshall, 2000)
Marketing hosts
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VIP could expected to have personal aircraft transportation
service, limousine, or 24 hours butler service.
Personal use gaming room, cigar bar, dining service, includes
international cuisines, steak house, spa, tea house for any kind
of brand.
Casino hotels shared about 1% commission fees to marketing hosts
so as to motivate them to bring in more VIP players. (Liu,2007).
The “Who” of consumers in casino
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Average household income is 16% higher ($53,240) than
non-gamblers ($453,781) .
The median age is 48
Empty nest
White-collars jobs 44% Vs. national 41% (Hashimoto, 2008)
WHY PEOPLE GAMBLE ?
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(Brenner, 1988; Rudd & Marshall, 2000)
The traditional slot player was thought to be a wife , girlfriend
or retire person..
Fifty percent of them were white collar & equal amount of bluecollar and retired persons.
Casino patrons had a median income of $38600, which was
higher than the population’s average
Major Reasons People Gamble:
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Greed
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Snobbery
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Boredom
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Masochism
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Intellectual exercise
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Desire to prove one’s superiority to the forces of chance
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Inexplicable excitement
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Help in attaining unfulfilled goals…
Table 1. Gaming Tax of Selected States
State
Percentage Gaming Tax
---------------------------------------------------- Nevada
6.5 %
 New Jersey
8.0 %
 Mississippi
8.0 %
 Louisiana
18.5 %
 Illinois
20.2 %
 Indiana
20.0 % (Rudd & Marshall, 2000)
Security & Surveillance
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For example, Its 5100 guest rooms, 500 suites, convention
facilities, a 36-acre amusement park, parking lots, restaurants,
theaters, and a $1.25 billion investment.
Surveillance steal
Bankruptcy management teams were not effective type of theft
diminish its losses
Security physical security
Grounds security
Unauthorized persons
Eye in the Sky
Outside men observe…
Nevada experience - Conclusion
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The success of the new gaming jurisdictions will depend upon
tourism.
The Nevada experience is an economy built not just on gaming
but on tourism.
If these new jurisdictions cannot offer gaming to patrons who
come outside the region, economic growth will be illusive at best.
Casino-style gaming, focusing on local play, will probably not be
the economic panacea that state legislators envision.
The introduction of casino- style gaming is no guarantee that
tourism will follow ,either.
Having something more than gaming and development of a
tourism. Infrastructure will be critical for the new gaming
jurisdictions to get the economic development they seek. (UNLV,
1996)
Macau Transformation Mileage Stone
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Macau established casino in 1847, now days about 30 casinos within
this region and provided 60 thousands employee opportunities which
consisted 11% residence.
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澳門行政長官何厚鏵1999年成立博彩委員會，完成《訂定娛樂場幸運博彩經
營法律制度》，俗稱博彩法。(Liu, 2007)
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In 2002, Macau government embraced international Vegas mega
style casino implemented instead of 40 years’ monopoly at Macau
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In 2002, gaming revenue exceeds 2290 billion Macau dollars.
In 2006, gaming revenue exceeds 5000 billion Macau dollars
(equal to 720 billion USD ), more than Las Vegas in that period.
In the first half 2008, Macau generated 5926,4 billion Macau dollars。
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(Chiu, 2008).
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In 2007, gaming revenue reported NTD 30000 billion dollars Macau
government declared the average casino visitor
contributed 1,600 Macau dollars 澳元 per day and stay expanded
to 3 days (Nin, 2007)
----Singapore attention
Macau
Transformation
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Sands Casino Hotel reported $6100 USD per gaming table,
or the average betting per person was $85 UDS at Macau;
however , people spent average $25 UDS per play at Vegas.
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The major difference is visitors came to Las Vegas for
vacation;
Nevertheless, Macau visitors were eager for gambling
simply and as if they want to be a billionaire within one
minute. (Liu, 2007).
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Visitors – who are they
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China allowed people for more opportunities to Macau so that
visitors increased to 1.2 billion people in 2003.
- and reported 1.67 billion people in 2004 ( 9 million visitors
came from Mainland)
- in 2007, visitors up to 2.7 billion people ( 62% were from
Mainland as well) (Chao, 2009).
- However, China reduced issuing the amount of visa to Macau
since 2008 June, the tourism was totally damaged (Chao, 2009).
Gaming Impact
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Mainland China contributed about 90% gaming revenue to
Macau casino hotels; therefore, people in mainland
described Macau as playground for corruption fees (Chiu,
2008).
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Moreover, Beijing region was not happy most casinos
revenue go to the pockets of American investors
(Cheng,2009)
Beijing forbidden their officials to Macau, however, in
Kwang-dong province more than 5000 officials were been
investigated by juridical in last 5 years. (Cheng,2009) 。
UNLV
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Dean of William Harrah Hotel Administration College
Dr. Staurt Mann stated visitors spent average 3.6 hours
on gaming at Vegas; However, people stayed 1.2 hours only
at Macau.
Thus, Las Vegas generated 82% revisiting tourists and gained
higher customer satisfaction (Cheng, 2007)
Macau conclusion
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Macau gaming industry relied too much upon China tourists, so
that their economy were deeply dominated by China government.
Besides casinos, it would be very important for authorities to develop more
MICE , entertainment facilities, shopping, family vacation options.. or resort
area.
UNLV
Dr. William Eadington 2008 presentation at 台科大
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The challenge for casino hotels in Macau
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1. majority revenues relied too much on VIP players,
2. extremely high taxes and bonus system，
3. rigid government regulation, labor constraints, local
residence resentment, and inadequate law regulations...
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Current issues：
1. serious financial problems for major casino hotels.
2. hotel lands owned by government reduced assets activities. 。
3. high employee cost.
4. unstable visa issuing from Beijing.
5. low revenue from non-gambling jurisdiction.
6. corruption problems。
Singapore - garden city
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Population 4.4 millions,
International visitors reported 8.3 millions in 2004,
Accordingly, visitors increased up to 10.3 millions in 2007
and 10.8 millions in 2008 (行政院經濟建設委員會, 2009).
Honk Kong Disney attracted more attention in
Asia market.
Macau developed new style mega gaming resort.
Singapore enacted 「博弈娛樂場管制法」，「博弈娛樂場管理局」
、「國家問題賭博委員會」等機構，以負責執行相關政策與法案
in 2006 April.
Singapore tourism development strategies
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Announced 「2015新加坡旅遊發展計畫(Tourism 2015)
Developed 濱海灣(Marina South) and 聖淘沙(Sentosa)
two areas as new integrated resort (IR).
This would bring economic benefit for $3380 NTD billions 、
provide 30,000 job opportunities in 2009 and 2010.
Visitors average stayed for 3 days in Singapore, hopefully
this plan would increase visitors up to 17 millions next year
and double their expenditures there (Liu, 2007)。
Marina South 濱海灣綜合度假村
(經建會, 2009)
Singapore 濱海灣區整體開發鳥瞰圖
(經建會, 2009)
Sentosa 聖淘沙綜合度假村
(經建會, 2009)
「濱海灣綜合度假區」and 「聖淘沙綜合度假區」
濱海灣綜合度假區 (Marina South)
 Positioning
– MICE commercial customers
 Theme
- fashion & stylish
 Target customers – international commercial visitors
 Developers
- Las Vegas Sands Corp.
聖淘沙綜合度假區 (Sentosa)
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Positioning
Theme
Target customers
Developers
-
More leisure entertainment
tropical style island resort
families vacationers
Genting Corp. Malaysia (經建會,
2009)
Gaming industry development in Taiwan
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Due to economic recession, - many local government
expected to develop casino hotels so as to benefit its
tourism and economic as well.
It is not only to bring over tourists but also reduce the
amount of gambling fees (200 billions NTD) goes to other
neighboring areas (Lin, 2005).
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Macau reported 29 millions visitors last year, Taiwan
revealed less than 4 millions international visitors.
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經建會博弈報告in 2008 – tends to adapt Singapore model
2009 立法院三讀通過《離島建設條例》修正案增列「博弈條款」
The results of 公投 on May?
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Pen-Hu County
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Pen-hu county government expected to develop casino
hotels to bring over 5 millions visitors each year or
each tourist spend 5 thousand NTD (tax 15%) would
generate 375 billions NTD.
Accordingly, Pen-hu could share 60% of gaming revenue or
225 billions NTD and 10 thousands job opportunities
(Tseng,2008)
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However, the reasons for Pen-hu to develop casinos would
only be “front island” or “economic depression”
simply？
Some restrictions for casinos development
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Current inadequate electricity and water
supplement in Pen-hu.
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Bad weather condition on winter season, thus strong
wind or huge wave makes it difficult for tourism
activities.
Unstable weather results in only half year for
tourism.
Environmental capacity issues︰
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– (Huang,2007) 。
Traffic problems：
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It is much harder to book a airline ticket to Pen-hu on
high season than international flight.
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Difficult access to reach would possibly attract local
residences or domestic tourists to Pen-hu casinos rather
than foreign visitors (Huang, 2007)
Currently there is no international five star resort at this
region.
台華輪 Tai-hwa Ferry (4-5 hours) could only bring in
several hundreds tourists within a day.
Appropriate location
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CEO of Venetian Hotel & Casino at Vegas and Macau Mr. Sheldon G.Adelson expressed that Taipei or
Kaoshiung would be much better location for developing
casinos in Taiwan (Lee, 2007)。
Taipei County governor 周錫瑋 declared that 淡水 could
be a nice location to an integrated resort for gaming,
leisure, MICE …。Pingtung -Dapenweng
Macau Hotel Lisboa Corp. found Kaoshiung county fitted.
Are we ready yet !
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1. Domestic flight makes it difficult for international tourists to reach ,
they do not think it is convenient for them to spend several hours to
transfer to Pen-hu either via air or ship way.
2. No MICE industry customers available at that region.
3. Social security problems.
4. Not appropriate timing to develop gaming industry at
this economic recession era especially it is hard to
against strong competitors such as Singapore or Macau.
5. Casinos are not a panacea to economic booming for all
local development.
Are we ready yet !
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Six major casino hotels stock market price dropped 80 % last year in
Macau; Nevertheless, Sands casino & hotel corp. stated declined 95%
in economic tsunami (Kan, 2008)
MGM Mirage sold its Treasure Island casino hotel as well
(Lin,2009)
UNLV Dr. William Eadington highlights:
1. Global gaming industry tends to be more conservative
than use before.
2. It is not a good timing for Taiwan to develop gaming
industry at this time period.
3. It is indispensible to reconsider again for its
personal strength or weakness in detail.
4. It would be much harder to develop gaming industry in
Pen-hu.
(2008 台科大演講)
The State of Nevada Legislature declares
the Public Policy of the State
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The gaming industry is vitally important to the
economy of the State and the General Welfare of the
inhabitants.
The continued growth and success of gaming is
dependent upon public confidence and trust that
licensed gaming is conducted honestly and
competitively, that the rights of the creditor of
licensees are protected, and that gaming is free from
criminal and corruptive elements.
Public confidence and trust can only be maintained by
strict regulation of persons, locations, practices,
associations, and activities related to the operation of
licensed gaming establishments and the manufacture
or distribution of gambling equipment. (UNLV, 1996)
Final suggestion
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What would be the unique positioning strategies
for Pen-hu casino development in Taiwan ?
How to cope with such strong competitors like
Singapore, Malaysia, or Macau..？
Could it possible to acquire cheapest tickets
either for directly international arrivals.
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Any international cruise, D.F.S. Outlet...available.
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Adequate facilities for tourism
Equal amount feedback for local
Strict regulation from governance
Casino is only a small part of tourism
sustainable development.
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End
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Q&A
Reference:
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林興傑， 2005，澎湖的社會結構－從賭場爭議的過程來看，世新大學社會發展研究所
碩士論文 。
行政院經濟建設委員會，2009，新加坡機場、觀光產業、科學園區與離島建設之發展
經驗。
謝志明，2002，澎湖地區設置觀光賭場之政策分析，國立臺灣大學政治學研究所碩士
論文。
劉祥亞，2007，美國賭王，商流文化事業有限公司。
黃仁謙，2007，經濟日報，2007/08/28。
李志德，2007，經濟日報，2007/08/28。
鄭隆正，2008，澎湖日報，2008/06。
邱詩文，2008，經濟日報，2008/04/24。
許韶芹，2008，聯合報，2008/06/02。
趙中原，2009，聯合報，2009/01/14。
康彰榮，2008，工商時報，2008/10/24 。
高永謀，2008，中國時報，2008/09/17。
陳柏誠，2009，The liberty times，2009/01/12。
林上祚，2009，中時電子報，2009/01/13。
嚴長壽，2007，演講台中市的城市魅力，台中市新聞處中華民國工商協進會講座。
張淑麗，2008，曹縣長樂見中央對博弈政策有明確定調，屏東縣政府新聞行政科。
陳美玲，2007，博弈教父Staurt：台灣博弈產業須單點、差異化創造體驗，鉅亨網，
2007/08/27。
Reference
Hashimoto, K. (2008). Casino management- A strategic approach. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Person Education Inc.
Kilby, J., Fox, J., & Lucas, A. F. (2005). Casino operations management. Hoboken,
NJ: Johnson Wiley & Sons
Levez, B. (2001). The casino handbook. UK: New Holland Publishers.
Rudd, D. P., & Marshall, L.H. (2000). Introduction to casino and gaming
operations. 2nd(ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
UNLV (1996). The gaming industry- Introduction and perspectives. University of
Nevada, Las Vegas, New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.
Presenter 梁仲正
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美國內華達州拉斯維加斯大學旅館管理碩士 UNLV
美國愛達荷州立大學人力資源發展系領導教育博士
經歷：
台北華泰飯店、高雄華園飯店櫃檯、麗景飯店餐飲部主任、
高市旅館商業同業公會監事
美國ASTD American Society for Training and Development會員、
高雄市電子商務協會理事、高雄市工業總會企業訓練聯絡網HRD服務團
人力資源發展訓練講師、中華民國企業教育訓練協會理事
AHLA美國觀光餐旅業部門訓練師CHDT,CHS認證課程授課講師、
勞委會職訓局TTQS服務團高屏區顧問