LV Sands says to open S'pore casino-resort in phases

SINGAPORE, Mar 4 (Reuters) - Las Vegas Sands said on Wednesday it will open its Singapore casino-resort in phases starting end-2009.

The company had earlier said the entire project would be up-and-running by that time.

"We are working closely with the government and will provide an update soon," said a spokeswoman for Marina Bay Sands, which is the name of the U.S. operator's $5.4 billion casino-cum-hotel resort that is under construction in Singapore.

George Tanasijevich, general manager of the Marina Bay Sands and executive in charge of the Singapore development, had earlier told reporters during a site tour that the project will be 50 percent completed by year-end.

Singapore legalised casino gaming in 2005 as part of an ambitious plan to make the city more exciting and double annual visitor arrivals to 17 million by 2015. The Marina Bay Sands, located at the edge of the central business district, will be the first of the city-state's two casinos.

The phased opening of the $5.4 billion casino-resort will, however, ease pressure on hoteliers in Singapore, where visitor arrivals fell 12.9 percent in January from a year ago due to the global economic downturn.

The average hotel room rate in Singapore fell 11.7 percent to S$209 ($135) in January, while hotel occupancy plunged to 67 percent from 85 percent a year earlier, the Singapore Tourism Board said last week.

Singapore currently has around 32,000 hotel rooms and the upcoming Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World at Sentosa will add over 4,000 rooms to the total supply next year.

Marina Bay Sands officials said on Wednesday that all 2,600 hotel rooms will be open by next year, while Resorts World has said that four of its six hotels will be ready by the first quarter of 2010.

Resorts World, located on the resort-island of Sentosa, is being developed by Genting International , a unit of Malaysian casino operator Genting Bhd . When ready, the development will have around 1,800 rooms. ($1=1.551 Singapore Dollar)