The Tigre de Cristal casino in Siberia is the biggest casino in Russia and was developed at a cost of RUB 8.2 billion by G1 Entertainment LLC. The company recently announced that it plans to invest $500 million to start development on Phase 2 of the Tigre De Cristal casino.

Phase 2 of the project will involve the development of a number of facilities on an area covering 100 thousand square meters. Some of the facilities that will be a part of Phase 2 include a hotel that will have between 400 to 500 hotel rooms, conference rooms, banqueting facilities, restaurants and bars, a food court, shopping mall and a spa.

In a statement, Craig Ballantyne, executive director of G1 Entertainment, said “The project includes additional space for parking, in addition, there is a possibility to construct a golf course. The project totalling $500 million will contribute to further development of the economy by increasing tourism, subsequently, the development of the region and provide direct employment opportunities for more than 2,000 people. We intend to turn an integrated entertainment resort “Primorye” into a place for recreation and world-class entertainment”.

The Tigre de Cristal is currently the only casino resort in the Primorye Integrated Entertainment Zone that is open to the public and as a result, the casino in enjoying a monopoly in the region. The Primorye economic zone is just a short flight away from Mainland China and international flights to the region have tripled in recent times. The casino has also seen an increase in the number of visitors which went up from 500 to 1,000 patrons per day.  During the third quarter of this year, the number of visitors also went up significantly to reach 95,000.

The Tigre de Cristal had a strong first year of operations and generated RUB 130 million in gaming taxes. G1 Entertainment invested RUB 816 million during 2016 to improve its landscaping and general infrastructure. The Primorye economic zone is expected to host as many as eight casinos in the near future and the Tigre de Cristal is proceeding with further development to ensure that it continues to perform well in the midst of the upcoming competition.

Cambodia’s NagaCorp which operates the NagaWorld Casino in Phnom Penh is expected to begin construction on its casino and entertainment complex ‘Mayak’ before the end of this month. The entertainment resort will also be home to an aqua park and is expected to open its doors to the public in the summer of 2018.