The UAE Prepares To Legalize Gambling With New Regulatory Body
Abu Dhabi CNN -
With its glitzy high-end resorts and a world-renowned horse racing market, the United Arab Emirates quickly may have a brand-new card to play in attracting visitors - gambling.
The UAE presented a new regulatory body to oversee commercial video gaming on Monday, made up of gambling establishment and gambling specialists from the United States. Gambling is presently prohibited in the UAE, where some laws are based on the Quran, which prohibits the practice.
The brand-new federal body, called the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA), would create a "regulatory framework for a national lottery and commercial gaming," according to Emirati state media WAM.
" [GCGRA will] assist in unlocking the economic potential of industrial gaming responsibly," WAM stated.
Industry veterans Kevin Mullally and Jim Murren have actually been hired for crucial roles as CEO and chair respectively in the GCGRA, according to WAM.
The 2 have a combined 32 years of experience in the gambling industry according to LinkedIn - Murren is the previous CEO of MGM Resorts International (MGM), while Mullally held various positions at Gaming Laboratories International.
"I eagerly anticipate establishing a robust regulatory body and structure for the UAE's lottery game and gaming market," Mullally said on his brand-new visit, according to WAM.
In 2015, casino operator Wynn Resorts inked an offer to build a luxury resort in Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates with a "gaming area." A statement by Wynn Resorts (WYNN) did not elaborate on whether gaming would be involved, but Craig Billings, CEO of Wynn Hotels, told investors in a revenues call on August 9 that the resort expects to have a license for video gaming operations in Ras Al Khaimah "imminently."
"There should be no concern that there is a broader legalization procedure in order for gaming to take place because residential or commercial property," Billings informed investors.
Global casino business Caesars Entertainment (CZR) has run a non-gambling hotel in Dubai considering that 2018.
Legalized gambling in the UAE would likely be of interest to cruise liners such as MSC and Royal Caribbean Cruise, which frequent the UAE's ports with casinos on board. But betting is restricted in UAE waters, so casinos are forbidden from operating while docked, according to Costa Cruises and Oceania's FAQ pages.
Dubai prides itself as the "cruise hub of the region," harboring 1,750 cruise liner each year. The UAE's capital Abu Dhabi saw a record variety of 700,000 cruise tourists in between May 2022 and 2023.
Overall tourism presently represents 9% of the UAE's GDP. If 1.6% of the UAE's GDP was based on video gaming - as it remains in Singapore - it would bring in $6.6 billion dollars of earnings yearly, Bloomberg experts reported on Monday.