The first week of the tenure of Crown Resorts’ new boss, Ciarán Carruthers, saw the chief executive officer make an announcement that the Australian gambling giant will cut its involvement with notorious junket operators.
According to Mr Carruthers, the “old junket model” that the company used will no longer be. The operator’s new CEO shared that he wants to see Crown Resorts attract tourists from all over the globe, rather than focusing mostly on affluent Chinese high-roller customers. Carruthers, who previously served as the CEO for Wynn Macau for five years, confirmed the “no-junket” position of the Australian gambling giant in an interview with The Age, saying that it was time for the company’s business to start a new era.
The new boss of the casino company acknowledged that the operator still had a lot of “heavy lifting” to do before the management is able to fully focus on the transformation of Crown’s corporate culture and business activities.
The new Crown Resorts’ boss shared an opinion that the company had relied way too much on Chinese tourists in Australia, as such customers were somewhat of an easy target for some of the operator’s casino venues in the past. He, however, said that the company is done with its old junket model and would no longer be going down that path.
Apart from the company’s dependence on junkets, Mr Carruthers also commented on other issues linked to the further development of Crown Resorts. He believes that the company’s new business model should not rely so heavily on gambling operations, but on entertainment and accommodation services, as well.
Crown Resorts Slowly on the Way to Recovery After Strong Criticism and Investigations
As Casino Guardian reported, Crown Resorts had already agreed to cut its ties with notorious junket operators as part of an attempt to show local regulatory bodies that changes had been finally brought to its business model that was strongly criticised during Royal Commissions’ investigations. Despite that, the company still remains under increased scrutiny because of its previous foul practices, which included operational mismanagement, poor governing practices, crime infiltration, money laundering, creative accounting, etc.
The strict oversight continues, even though Crown Resorts was recently acquired by the US private equity giant Blackstone. Furthermore, the lack of internal integrity in Crown Resorts and similar transgressions of its main local competitor Star Entertainment resulted in the establishment of some new gaming regulatory bodies in Australia that are closely watching the two gambling giants in order to make sure both companies meet their promises and clean up their previous wrongdoings.
The fact that Crown Resorts has embarked on a new path, however, does not mean the company was out of the woods. Recently, the gambling giant saw itself in the middle of an incident involving the Australian rules football player Wayne Carey. A week ago, a bag of white powder fell from the AFL star’s pocket while he sat at a gaming table at a Crown Resorts casino.
Although the footballer claimed the powder was an anti-inflammatory drug, the gambling operator suspended him from all of its establishments, and the Hall of Famer revealed that he was considering suing the company. According to the head of the Western Australian Police, Crown Resorts had to confiscate the bag after the incident and contact the police. The gambling operator, however, did not follow the protocol, meaning that the investigation has no physical evidence to find out what was really in it.
- Author
Olivia Cole
