SkyCity Auckland is making the upcoming school holidays even more fun with a host of special events and activities designed to keep the whole family engaged and entertained.

Wētā’s “Collectibles Unleashed” experience goes live in the Wētā Cave from Saturday 22 July until the 24^th. You’ll see collectible reveals and artist demos or experience the interactive FX workshops. If you and your kids are more sporty types, the All Blacks Experience will have everything you could want and more. Experience the rugby legends like never before as you test your skills in the Step-Up Zone, where one child gets in free for every adult ticket sold on both Mondays of the holidays. Family passes are also great value with an impressive 20% off.

The kids can also get some essential skills training directly from former All Black, Nathan Harris and go on a behind-the-scenes tour of the All Blacks Experience.

Thrills Aplenty

Hit the unique augmented reality experience of SkySlide, which will be open throughout the school holidays and will only cost you $15. The SkyWalk will be popular because it’s free for all children, accompanied by a paying adult. If you haven’t been to the SkyWalk, you’re in for a spectacular treat as the walk around the outside ring of the tallest building in New Zealand lets you take in a unique, 360-degree view from 192m above Auckland City.

Going up comes some extra perks, there are five prize packs up for grabs if you ascend the Sky Tower between the 9th and 24th of July. A great range of entertainment is also available, including arcade gaming, activity stations, and the aviation Station. Family passes are again discounted at 20%, and booking is essential. Make sure to check out the SkyCity Website for all the terms & conditions and easy-to-buy tickets.

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Major casino operator SkyCity Entertainment Ltd. Recently reported that its New Zealand and Australian businesses have started seeing signs of recovery as Covid-19 restrictions have fallen away and borders are reopened.

The company recently revealed that it predicts a normalized net profit of $3.5 million to $7.0 million for its financial year ending June 30.

In an official release, the operator stated,

“Following recent relaxation of Covid-19 operating restrictions, SkyCity has seen strong performance from its local gaming businesses, particularly in New Zealand.”

The company added that Hotels and other non-gaming businesses were also seeing an increase in domestic tourism.

Change of Fortunes

This development is a profound improvement from February 2022, when SkyCity revealed that it had suffered a $337 million loss for the first half of the financial year. At the time, its flagship SkyCity Auckland Casino had been closed for 107 days up until December 2021. Over the lockdowns, SkyCity Hamilton was shut down for 65 days, SkyCity Queenstown for 22 days, and SkyCity Adelaide fared best, only being shuttered for eight days.

Once the casinos received their respective reopening dates, they were all subjected to government-related restrictions. Mask mandates were enforced along with capacity restrictions and social distancing.

In March of 2022, with the promise of reduced restrictions on the horizon, SkyCity embarked on a massive recruitment drive as it sought to fill hundreds of positions.

Capacity restrictions were eventually lifted in New Zealand, and its borders reopened in April 2022, triggering the operator’s path to recovery as fully vaccinated Australian tourists were granted access to the country.

New Attraction

SkyCity recently debuted a brand new multi-sensory attraction in its Auckland Sky Tower. The Skyslide is a 360-degree virtual reality tour of the city skyline via a glass slide that will give those visiting the experience a full view of the glory of Auckland.

SkyCity’s Chief Operating Officer, Callum Mallett, commented on the launch of the new attraction, saying,

“We’re really excited to be opening such an adrenaline-pumping attraction at the Sky Tower. There is nothing like this in Auckland or even New Zealand. The Sky Tower is a much-loved New Zealand icon, and now Kiwis can use virtual reality to fully immerse themselves in an experience that would have previously only been available in their imagination.”​

Skycity, Adelaide

Industry-leading online casino specialist LeoVegas has finalized a deal to add premium iGaming content from top supplier Kalamba Games. The agreement serves to boost the online casino provider’s offering while giving Kalamba increased exposure to a massive market of international players.

Kalamba Games has a long-running reputation for delivering immersive and rewarding online casino games and recently launched its new Blazing Bull: Cash Quest pokie. Kalamba’s top-performing titles, including games from its Blazing Bull and Joker series, are now available for players to discover and enjoy at LeoVegas.

Mutual Growth

In an official statement, Steve Cutler, the CEO and Co-Founder of Kalamba Games, said,

“Delivering to players the widest variety of high-quality entertainment and cutting-edge technology is a key goal within our growth strategy at Kalamba. This latest partnership will help deliver and exceed this ambition as we move to the next phase of the Kalamba journey.”

The deal enables the studio to establish a wider presence across key regulated European regions and the LatAm region.

Andrew Crosby, the CCO for Kalamba Games, added,

“Delivering our slot titles to a prestigious and well-known casino like LeoVegas is a testament to our rapid growth in recent years. Its reputation as the go-to mobile-focused casino for players globally represents a true growth opportunity for our games to be played by many new customers.”

New Horizons

Ownership of LeoVegas may soon change hands if recent acquisition efforts by land-based casino giant MGM are successful. MGM has bid US$607 million to acquire all of Leovegas’ share capital. It plans to extend its reach and profitability by leveraging the operator’s existing access to the European online gambling market.

Bill Hornbuckle, chief executive and president of MGM Resorts, commented on the offer, saying,

“Our vision is to be the world’s premier gaming entertainment company, and this strategic opportunity with LeoVegas will allow us to continue to grow our reach throughout the world,” he said. “We have achieved remarkable success with BetMGM in the US, and with the acquisition of LeoVegas in Europe, we will expand our online gaming presence globally.”

“We believe that this offer creates a compelling opportunity that allows the combined teams of MGM Resorts and LeoVegas to accelerate our global digital gaming growth and fully realize the potential of our omnichannel strategy. We look forward to being able to welcome the LeoVegas team to our MGM Resorts family,” Hornbuckle concluded.

The deal has drawn positive reactions from LeoVegas’ leading shareholders and, if successful, is expected to close in the second half of 2022.

Major casino and hotel operator, SkyCity has praised the country’s shift to the orange traffic light level, stating that this is a welcome development for the tourism and hospitality industry.

The status comes with a relaxed set of rules, including an end to gathering limits and the removal of the requirement for restaurant patrons to be always seated and separated.

The country’s Covid-19 Minister, Chris Hipkins, recently announced the transition to a less stringent pandemic response strategy, citing falling case numbers and saying,

“We are over the peak, we are coming down the other side; in some places we’re coming well down”

Callum Mallett, SkyCity’s CEO expressed the company’s excitement at the news but added that, even with increased capacity, it would still take a few days for the company to return to normal operations.

“The ability for customers to find those bookings in the time that we have could be challenging but most operators will move pretty quickly to ensure they can welcome as many guests as possible,” Mallett said.

Normalcy Returns

Australians are now permitted to enter New Zealand without the requirement of isolating, provided that they are vaccinated and test negative for Covid-19. As a result, booking figures for flights between the two countries have increased slightly, but the casino operator has remained realistic, predicting that an immediate huge influx of visitors is unlikely.

Mallet advised that while the current numbers are minimal low, this is a positive development, nonetheless.

“The Australian market being open is a significant step because now even if they don’t rush to book, the opportunity exists for them to book and as airlines increase frequency of flights we’re really confident that the Australian market over time will return to like it was pre-Covid,” he said.

The CEO concluded by stating that the Asian market still has a long road to recovery, with low expectations of the overall numbers returning to anything resembling pre-Covid levels in the coming summer.