Cairns Casino Greenlighted

The Aquis Great Barrier Reef Resort will stand on 330 hectares of open rural land with outlined plans to include one of the world’s largest casinos, nine luxury hotels, two 2,500-seat theatres, a 13-hectare reef lagoon, 18-hole golf course, 25,000-seat stadium and 13,500 square meters of high-end retail shopping, restaurants, bars and food and beverage outlets.

According to a communiqué from Fung, a longtime investor in Queensland, building starts mid-2014 for completion by 2018. Queensland’s far north tourism industry gets only 691,000 visitors who spend $804 million. More than 5.7 million total tourists came to Australia in the 12 months ending March 31 and spent $17.4 billion.