Chief executive Barry Felstead reveals blueprint for Crown Perth New Crown CEO, Barry Felstead at Melbourne's Crown Casino in one of the VIP private rooms. Picture: Caird David Source: The Sunday Times CASINO kingpin Barry Felstead has a plan to lure more of the world's richest gamblers to WA. Mr Felstead was recently promoted to chief executive of Crown Ltd's Australian resorts, putting him in charge of Crown Melbourne as well as Crown Perth. In a wide-ranging interview with The Sunday Times, he said his promotion would hopefully result in Perth luring more high rollers and getting a bigger share of the VIP gambling action. Mr Felstead who left school at 16 and started his casino life as a cashier on the Gold Coast before rising to the top of James Packer's Crown empire also opened up about the future of gambling, the secrets of being a successful manager and what it was like to work for one of Australia's richest people. Crown's recent full-year results showed VIPs waged $11.8 billion at Crown Perth. It sounds like a lot, but it is well short of the $38.9 billion they gambled at Crown Melbourne. Mr Felstead said there was "definitely scope" to grow the VIP market in Perth, which would have a roll-on effect for the state's tourism industry. His plan is to use his new role as head of both properties to ensure there is more "cross-property visitation" from VIPs. "The ideal customer is someone who flies into Australia through Melbourne and leaves via Perth, or vice versa," he said. They're two different experiences. Melbourne is a very urban experience, whereas Perth is more resort-style. Mr Felstead said WA's natural beauty, clean air and time zone were big selling points. "We can take (VIPs) out on a boat to somewhere like Rottnest Island where they might do a bit of fishing or go for a swim that's a pretty special way to spend the day," he said. A lot of other properties can't do that. You certainly can't do it in Vegas. Crown bought the Burswood Entertainment Complex in 2004, but only recently became convinced the property had reached a sufficiently high standard to carry its branding. "We got a clear message from customers in 2005-06 that the property was very run-down," Mr Felstead said. It really was just a place to come and gamble. He said tackling violence and binge drinking at the site had been an important step to overhauling its image even at a cost to profits. "There is a smart way to make money and there is a dumb way to make money," he said. (Binge drinking) was certainly an issue in the early days and we changed our policies around our service of alcohol quite dramatically. We banned shooters and happy hours things that were causing grief. Mr Felstead said the most significant next step for Crown Perth was providing more accommodation through the development of Crown Towers, which will add 500 hotel rooms to the site by 2016. The recent demolition of the iconic Burswood Dome is part of the overall plan. The dome makes way for a 1000-bay car park. Blackjack will always be blackjack, Mr Felstead said, but the future success of casino sites rests on expanding the non-gaming entertainment elements for customers. The number of food outlets has spiralled since Mr Felstead was made chief operating officer of Crown Perth in 2005. "We had nine restaurants and bars and now we've got 31," he said. That was the biggest transformation at the property. I don't know of any properties that are just casinos that are thriving. Mr Felstead said putting a new football stadium next to Crown Perth on the Burswood Peninsula was a "double-edged sword." "The negative will be that, during peak periods, we will lose a whole bunch of parking," he said. The positive will be people coming (to Crown) before and after the game. Mr Felstead said development of the peninsula was vital for the state. "It's 3km from the city and that's what people don't realise," he said. People think it's a long way away. It's the first major thing when you come out of the airport. Crown Perth is the biggest single-site employer in WA, with more than 5600 employees. Mr Felstead said his mantra about running a successful business was "talk to customers." "You can't manage a property remotely," he said. You need to actually be on the ground. You need to know what the customers think. There's no point building things that people don't want. Mr Felstead also spends time as a customer at other casinos. His favourite games are blackjack and Caribbean stud poker. "I call it market research," he said. Mr Felstead said Mr Packer the third-richest man in Australia and estimated to be worth at least $6 billion was a "very engaging" boss. "James is a charming individual," he said. He puts you at ease quickly. Mr Felstead said if he had one word to describe Mr Packer it would be "unstoppable." "I have never met someone so committed to excellence and results," he said. He has personally driven the transformation of Burswood and has great affection for Perth. Mr Felstead is well known for his philanthropic work in the WA community. He raised the most money for the annual Vinnies CEO Sleepout for three years running until he was pipped this year by Alcock Brown-Neaves boss Dale Alcock. "I am a big supporter of philanthropy and charitable causes, both on a personal level and as a company," he said. Crown in Perth has worked very hard to support the community we work in, through our indigenous employment programs, contributions to charitable causes or staff engagement, and I see the potential to do much more. We have the backing of our chairman James Packer to do even more.