Sydney could become “Monte Carlo” of Asia says James Packer

James Packer the Chairman of Crown Entertainment is confident that Sydney could become the “Monte Carlo” of Asia and make the city “Rock-star cool.”

Mr Packer’s luxury gaming resort in Barangaroo which is hoped to get clearance from the New South Wales government before the end of the year, with a value of $1.5 billion could be the resort to make Sydney the Chinese capital for tourism.

However there is a long way to go with the 70 million Chinese who travelled abroad in 2011, only about 500,000 visited Australia, official figures show, but Mr Packer wants to change all that.

“I think love is too strong,” he said. “I think Australia is getting about its share (of Chinese tourists) but let’s not pretend we’re doing incredible, incredible, incredible.”

Mr Packer paints a vision of Sydney’s glittering harbour as a playground for Asia’s aspiring middle-class and super-rich tourists, just as Monte Carlo’s glamour and beauty have attracted Europe’s well-heeled for decades.

“Sydney is that good – it can be rock-star cool – but I don’t think anyone has done Sydney the way Sydney needs to be done and we are competing in a very ferocious world with cities that have a lot of cool things,” he said.

The Crown chairman will set up his Australian office in the Barangarro resort, due to open from 2018, should all go well with final approval.

One thing is for sure Mr Packer believes that the new resort has the biggest potential yet to bring more Chinese tourists to Australia than any other and with his idea of combining his connections in entertainment to the resort to ensure regular visits from A-list celebrities, he might just be right.