According to Tim Nguyen, managing director of Fortuna Investments and a 20-year casino industry experience, Vietnam’s gaming market is close to saturation point.
In an interview with AGB, Nguyen shared his insights on Vietnam’s gaming market, noting that while investment opportunities still exist, the market is no longer Guaranteed success. Vietnam lacks unified gambling laws, regulatory agencies or licensing structures. Apart from integrated resorts such as Hoiana Resort and Corona Resort & Casino Phu Quoc, the country’s e-gaming clubs are only open to foreign passport holders and are mostly located in four- and five-star hotels in tourist areas. Currently, Corona Resort is the only casino open to Vietnamese citizens who meet admission requirements.
Nguyen compared the current situation of VIP gambling clubs in Vietnam to the Cambodian slot club market in the early 2000s, when the market was oversupplied with too many machines and venues. . While there were enough players, mainly tourists from South Korea and other Asian countries, to remain profitable at the time, the market now appears to be saturated. Nguyen warned that without a strong location or marketing, the club would face huge challenges.
Despite this, Vietnam's tourism industry showed strong growth momentum in early 2024, with international tourists increasing by 58.4% year-on-year, reaching more than 880 in the first six months Ten thousand people, nearly 2 million of whom are from China. Vietnam aims to attract 17 million to 18 million international tourists in 2024, with tourism revenue expected to reach VND840 trillion (approximately US$34.7 billion).
Nguyen has invested in two VIP gaming clubs in northern Vietnam and said the population density there is higher. He stressed that investors had an opportunity to revive clubs that had been closed during the pandemic. Additionally, Nguyen believes new console vendors have the potential to challenge market leaders such as Aristocrat and Interblock. He represents Spintec in Vietnam through Platinum Entertainment and noted that there is growing interest in Spintec's cost-effective products.
Nguyen believes that Spintec's affordable and reliable e-gaming has a competitive advantage and is attractive to budget-conscious operators in the current economic environment.
