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list >> Wrest
Point Hotel Casino
The Wrest Point Hotel Casino, opened in the suburb
of Sandy Bay in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia on 10 February
1973. It was Australia's first legal casino.
The site was originally a hotel called
the Wrest Point Riviera, built by Arthur Drysdale and
opened in 1939. The hotel was later sold to Federal
Hotels, who remain the present owners.
In the 1960s, The Federal Group attempted
to secure Australia's first casino license. At the time,
Tasmania's natural scenery and beauty were not widely
known elsewhere, and as a result the state wasn't attracting
many tourists. The company hoped that a casino would
be the drawcard that would kickstart Tasmania's tourism
industry.
One of the companies executives John
Haddad (now the Managing Director) was assigned the
role of getting a casino license. He met with then Tasmanian
Premier Eric Reece and other state officials. A referendum
was called, and narrowly passed.
The development of the casino included
the construction of the 17-storey hotel tower, a landmark
that is nationally idenitified with Hobart, and to this
day is still the city's tallest building.
After the centre's opening in 1973
(after which it was known as Wrest Point Hotel Casino)
the casino kickstarted the nation's casino industry,
with 12 additional casinos opening across the country.
This included a second Federal Group casino in Tasmania,
the Country Club Resort, which opened in Launceston
in 1982.
Since the opening of the casino, the
state's tourism industry has boomed, as its management
had hoped.
The building has been extended in recent
years, including the conference centre which was opened
in 1984, and the boardwalk in 1996.
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