Monthly Archives: August 2017

The Ho Tram Strip moves ahead: Kahuna unveiled

August 2017, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: The Ho Tram Project Company Ltd (HTP) launched its KAHUNA Ho Tram Strip condotel and villa project. The event was attended by several hundred potential investors who were entertained and presented with a virtual reality tour of the highly anticipated resort development.

Designed by leading Ho Chi Minh City architects, Korn, and international engineers, OROCON, KAHUNA, named after the legendary waves of Hawaii, captures the essence of a beachside holiday experience. It offers a compelling opportunity to be part of a slice of this fast-developing coastal holiday destination. Mr. Michael Kelly, Executive Chairman of HTP, described the condotel and villa development as “featuring a design inspired by a luxury cruise liner with sleek nautical lines” and added that “in reinforcing the origins of its name and its coastal location, an aquatic concept has been incorporated throughout the resort design.”

KAHUNA Ho Tram Strip is a 244 key resort development made up of 164 condotel units situated in a 12-storey tower, 36 double key villas and 8 beach front villas all for long-term lease. Investment costs range from VND 2,022,000,000 (USD 88,800) for a one-bedroom standard unit to VND 9,110,000,000 (USD 400,000) for a penthouse and from VND 7,970,000,000 (USD 350,000) to VND 20,500,000,000 (USD 900,000) for a villa. HTP guarantees a return of 8% per annum for 2 years of net lease cost. Following this, lessees benefit from a favorable 60/40 net rental revenue share for the remaining 8 years of the rental pool agreement. In addition, lessees enjoy 21 room nights per annum in the resort.

HTP, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Asian Coast Development Ltd, leads the development of the Ho Tram Strip which is located two hours from Ho Chi Minh City. It comprises 164 hectares along 2.2km of pristine beachfront and is surrounded to the west by natural forest. KAHUNA is the fifth phase of the Ho Tram Strip development, adjoining the existing 541 room 5 star Grand Hotel, Vietnam’s largest and most awarded integrated resort, and the 559 room 5 star Beach Club (the newest hotel product currently under construction). To the west are located the award-winning Greg Norman designed Bluffs Golf Course and the prestigious Gallery Villas residential development.

Kevin Costner’s South Dakota casino shuts down after 26 years

A South Dakota casino owned by Hollywood notable Kevin Costner has shut its doors for good after 26 years of business.

On Tuesday, the Midnight Star casino in Deadwood, SD announced it was riding off into the sunset, leaving around 40 staff members out of a job. The property opened in 1991, the same year the Costner-directed, South Dakota-located Dances With Wolves won multiple Academy Awards, including Best Director for Costner.

In an emailed statement to the Rapid City Journal, Costner said he had a “heavy heart” in announcing the casino’s closure, but said the property had a great run and he was “enormously proud of what the Midnight Star became.”

The property was an immediate hit following its opening, offering retail shopping, dining and drinking options in addition to gaming, along with plenty of Costner’s movie memorabilia. But the rapid expansion of casino operations across the US eventually took its toll, as newer and flashier options opened closer to home for many Midnight Star customers.

Ladbrokes Coral to voluntarily pay online greyhound racing levy

UK-listed gambling operator Ladbrokes Coral has decided to voluntarily pay a levy on its international online betting turnover from UK greyhound racing.

UK retail betting operators already return 0.6% of their greyhound racing turnover to the British Greyhound Racing Fund. On Wednesday, Ladbrokes Coral announced its intention to voluntarily pay a levy on its “off shore greyhound turnover” once the calendar flips over to 2018.

Starting April 1, 2018, UK betting operators will be required to pay a uniform 10% levy on all revenue derived from the UK horseracing industry, following years of complaints by the British Horseracing Authority that the bookies’ online divisions weren’t paying their fair share to prop up the dying sport of kings. At the time, a Ladbrokes Coral spokesperson said horseracing was “in danger of pricing itself out of friends.”

But Ladbrokes Coral owns four UK greyhound tracks – Crayford, Hove, Monmore and Romford – so this willingness to pay higher greyhound betting rights fees is basically Ladbrokes Coral subsidizing its own operations, and likely hoping that the government will eventually require rival betting operators to kick in as well.

Bwin pop Inter Milan’s betting partnership cherry

GVC Holdings’ flagship sports betting brand Bwin has signed a new betting partnership with Italian football powerhouses Inter Milan.

On Tuesday, GVC proudly announced that Bwin had inked a three-year deal to become the official betting partner of FC Internazionale, more popularly known as Inter. This marks the first time the storied football club has inked a betting partnership with any operator, as the club’s former owner Massimo Moratti was vehemently opposed to tie-ups with gambling companies.

The deal will see Bwin provide in-play odds on the LED perimeter boards at Inter’s San Siro stadium, while the Bwin brand will also get plenty of exposure via the club’s digital properties and social media channels. Bwin will also provide Inter with a hefty chunk of cash, the precise amount of which went undisclosed in the official announcement.

Bwin Italia board member Moreno Marasco said it was “a privilege” to have popped Inter’s betting partnership cherry, as it fits with Bwin’s strategy of partnering with clubs that “compete at the pinnacle of international football.”

Colombia to block payments to international gambling sites

Colombia plans to impose payment-blocking measures against internationally licensed online gambling sites serving local punters.

On Tuesday, Juan B. Pérez Hidalgo, president of Colombia’s gaming regulatory agency Coljuegos, gave a presentation as part of the annual Event of Accountability at the Ministry of Finance. Hidalgo told the audience that the regulator planned to “step up actions against illegal games of chance.”

Hidalgo went on to say that the regulator planned to “intensify controls and we will seek the tools that the law allows us to reach people who are literally stealing resources for the health of Colombians.”

Colombia became the first South American jurisdiction to formally legalize and regulate online gambling last October. This March, Coljuegos awarded its first online license to local operator Wplay.co and international operators such as Sportium expect to launch before the year is through.