Wynn delays decision on how to open UAE casino resort
Wynn will decide in February how to open Wynn Al Marjan Island, as the U.S.-Iran war affects its target markets.
Casino resort operator Wynn Resorts will likely decide in February precisely how to open its Al Marjan Island casino resort in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, CEO Craig Billings said on the company's third-quarter earnings call.
The $5.7 billion project, the UAE's first integrated gaming resort, remains scheduled to open in September 2027. Billings said the mix of source markets the resort ideally wants to draw "does impact how we open," a shift from August, when he said Wynn generally does not do phased openings.
He laid out three demand scenarios tied to the course of the U.S.-Iran war: if conflict continues, the resort would lean on people already in the UAE; if it moderates, it would add the wider region; if it resolves, Wynn's original demand thesis would apply. That 2024 thesis projected 37% of gaming revenue from international high rollers and 29% from other international travelers.
Billings now describes the UAE's wealthy, largely expatriate population as the base business that is "easiest to address," naming Western Europeans as the travelers most likely to be apprehensive about the region. Handover of finished zones to operations starts in early January and runs through July, with rooms going on sale soon. Wynn has contributed more than $1.12 billion in cash to the joint venture, in which it holds a 40% stake, and the venture has drawn $1.76 billion on its construction loan.