Russia’s Primorye region tourism rises 18.5% following Tigre de Cristal opening

Russia’s far east Primorye region saw an uptick in international tourism in 2015, with at least part of the bump attributed to the new Tigre de Cristal casino.

The Lawrence Ho-backed Tigre de Cristal opened on Oct. 8, the first of four confirmed casinos in the Primorye region outside Vladivostok. Since that opening, local tourism boss Konstantin Shestakov said over 30k tourists have made the trek to the Primorye gaming zone, one of only four regions in which Russia permits casinos.

Russian news agency Ria Novosti quoted Shestakov saying Primorye had welcomed nearly 365k foreign tourists in 2015, an 18.5% increase over 2014’s total. Despite the gains, Shestakov claimed it was too early to judge Tigre de Cristal’s actual drawing power.

Of those 365k tourists, 61% came from China, which is expected – along with South Korea and Japan – to be the prime markets from which Primorye’s casinos draw gamblers. Shestakov said Tigre de Cristal’s 121-room hotel is booked solid through the end of February. That month includes the Lunar New Year festivities, always a prime period of gambling activity for Chinese punters.