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Home / Features / Would a mega casino benefit Dubai?

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Would a mega casino benefit Dubai?

From Las Vegas to London to Macau, the biggest cities in the world share one thing in common: a mega casino. Mega casinos are an incredibly exciting entertainment experience for the people who visit. Some tourists will travel to cities just to be able to visit the mega casino — the sheer size of them is impressive, and the games offering is incomparable.

Where are the top casinos in the world?

Of course, each mega casino has a completely different appeal. The Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlanta, for example, offers its guests a 161,000 square foot gaming floor, 4,100 gaming machines and 17 different bars. The Casino Lisboa in Lisbon has 1,000 gaming machines, 1000 hotel rooms and 26 card tables. And the MGM Las Vegas, one of the most famous casinos in the world, has a gaming floor that covers an impressive 170,000 feet, with 20 bars, 5044 hotel rooms and a total of 178 card and table machines. With mega casinos being located all around the world, there are just so many different places for casino lovers to explore.

Many big cities benefit from having a mega casino as much as the people that enjoy them. Having a mega casino (or in the case of Las Vegas and Macau, multiple mega casinos) means that the city is likely to receive an influx of visitors from all around the world. As a result, local businesses like restaurants and retail shops will benefit from new customers exploring the area during their time outside the casino.

As part of their offering, mega casinos often have venues that host entertainment acts like comedy shows, famous musicians and more. Las Vegas casinos, for example, often have residencies for incredible musical acts, which have included everyone from Donny and Marie Osmond, to Lady Gaga, Britney Spears and Cher. These famous musicians attract fans from all over the world, making it a secondary source of tourists for a city to welcome. The influx of money into the city, including the local businesses, is great for the economy — and encourages more creative and cultural development in the area.

Casino-related events, including big poker tournaments like the World Series of Poker, are another exciting benefit of mega casinos. Events like WSOP have gone international with the increased popularity of poker. This has meant that the tournament has been held in mega casinos all around the world, in places like the Caribbean, Latin America, Australia, London and France. Hosting this event and attracting those with huge bank accounts, as well as the best poker players, would surely add to the already booming tourist industry and benefit the economy.

So, what about Dubai?

One of the fastest rising cities in the world, Dubai is part of the United Arab Emirates (or UAE) — which was established in 1971 after a collection of former states banded together to form a country. The country’s population is 9.2 million which includes both citizens and expatriates, and while it is small, it benefits from the seventh largest oil reserve in the world, making it one of the richest areas on the planet. Dubai itself has become world-renowned for its luxury shopping, night life, entertainment and of course the Burj Khalifa — at an astonishing 2,722 ft, the tallest building in the world.

The number of tourists visiting Dubai has also grown exponentially over the years. In 2016, there were almost 15 million visitors to Dubai, making it the fourth most visit city destination after London, Paris and Bangkok. Interestingly, Dubai has also become one of the top leading destinations for international visitor spending, with tourists spending over 28 billion US dollars in Dubai in 2016.

Yet, despite its notoriety as a world class tourist destination, Dubai does not have a mega casino. This is because the United Arab Emirates is a Muslim country, which means that is has strict laws on gambling. And while some Muslim countries have more relaxed laws, permitting some gambling on a limited basis, the UAE has been incredibly firm in their stance on gambling, with fines up to $5500 USD if you’re caught gambling in the country.

Why would the city benefit from a mega casino?

While gambling is prohibited in Dubai, it’s still easy to see how the city would benefit from a mega casino. Being that it is one of the top tourist destinations with so many entertainment offerings available — and a plethora of wealthy visitors — a casino would definitely not go amiss. There are so many gambling fans around the world that would love to visit Dubai and experience some of their favourite games. And it would definitely be a fantastic destination for a WSOP tournament; with such a luxurious and exciting setting, it would be a perfect place for some of the world’s best poker players to try their luck at winning the main event.

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