萬國法律事務所

According to the Offshore Islands Development Act, casinos are restricted to being established inside an international sightseeing resort. After planning for a half year, the Tourism Bureau has preliminarily completed the draft Regulations on the Establishment of International Tourism Resorts. In the regulations, there are three basic types of resorts, exhibition center types and theme park types of resorts. Basic types of resort must have a site area of 12.21 hectares, floor space of 4.884 hectares, and 600 rooms. Sightseeing casinos can have a size of 0.61 hectares site area or be within 5% of the site area. Exhibition center type resorts must have at least 15.71 hectares of site area, 6.284 hectares of floor space and 600 rooms. Sightseeing casinos can be as large as 0.61 hectares or occupy no more than 3.88% of the site area. Theme park type resorts, the largest among the three types, must have 13.285 hectares of site area, 5.314 hectares of floor space and 600 rooms. Sightseeing casinos can have a size of 0.61 hectares or occupy at most 4.59 % of the site area. Nevertheless, according to the Tourism Bureau, the maximum space for the casino is still open to discussion. One official stated that only when a casino is helpful to the development of tourism in the islands, will it be possible for a casino license to be granted. Furthermore, applicants will have to consider whether there is sufficient transportation facilities, water and electricity, and whether there are any zoning regulations or national park regulations, as well as the environmental protection and ecological protection issues when submitting their applications.