1. Chris Morris Casino Atlantic City
2. Chris Morris Casino Entertainment

Founded by Chris Morris, the founder of ASX Top-50 global company Computershare, the Morris Group is a network of businesses striving to create a positive impact and enable access to the best in people, places and quality of experience. Technology and innovation propelled our journey in the beginning, and continue to drive everything we do. Chris Morris is on Facebook. Join Facebook to connect with Chris Morris and others you may know. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the.

Tourism and hospitality tycoon Chris Morris affirms to have bought the “worst-performing casino” in Australia, but after a $20 million makeover, the Townsville casino will be a gold mine that will fund his growing Queensland tourism empire.

Chris Morris, ranked #47 by Forbes in the Australia’s 50 richest, is a self-made millionaire with a net worth of $590 million. In 1978, he founded a global share-registry company Computershare, one of the first and biggest technology success stories in Australia, which brought him his name and wealth and of which is he is currently a non-executive chairman. Even though he has never been a dazzling software developer and programmer, his vision and strong feeling for great business opportunities is what brought him to the place he is at right now. Currently, with his experience and his money, Morris can afford investing into Australian casinos although he has resisted installing pokies machines in his hotels and pubs on the grounds they are immoral. However, he does not have a problem with them in casinos, since people make a conscious decision to go to casinos and spend money on gambling nevertheless.

Morris’s Colonial Leisure Group entered into an agreement to buy Echo Entertainment Group’s Jupiters Townsville casino for $70 million in January. They sealed the deal last month after having received the probity clearance.

Echo Entertainment Group, one of Australia’s largest publicly listed entertainment, said in January that Jupiters Townsville had limited expansion opportunities and divesting the casino would allow the company to focus on its other properties in Sydney, Brisbane and Gold Coast.
“With our fingers firmly on the pulse of pleasure, leisure and reinvention, Echo Entertainment Group is the catalyst for your entertainment. Echo Entertainment Group is like entertainment itself … forever evolving,” states the company. Therefore, it is only logical that they have been trying to sell Jupiters Townsville casino for two years, as its one and only income was from the gambling facilities and even expanding it would not bring any profit in the near future.

The Australian Financial Review had an interview with Chris Morris, in which he claimed that the property had great potential, but due to the lack of investment, was in a sad condition.

Mr. Morris said the waterside casino is the “best spot in Townsville” but an outdated design has not made enough of the views out to the spectacular Magnetic Island. And although the place gets around 2,000 visitors a day, it has struggled to encourage spending outside of the 350 poker machines and 50 gaming tables, he said. Gambling was the only Jupiters’ function, and the potential for the other activities and entertainment was not used to its fullest.

“The only reason people were going there was to gamble,” he said. “The food and beverage offering … was very average.”

Chris Morris, will spend at least $20 million on the major renovation and refurbishment, and on entirely redesigning the venue. He is going to introduce multiple restaurants and bars into the facility, which is typical of his hotels in Perth and Melbourne. It is a long-term project and he does not expect to make a profit for the next four years. The Jupiters deal drives his investments in Queensland in the past three years over $100 million. Mr. Morris’s vision is to create high-end packages for international tourists that wish to visit the Great Barrier Reef, the Daintree and the outback. Thus they could stay at his trio of exceptional venues. He targets rich tourists who can afford paying $1400 per night and it is definitely important to create an impeccable atmosphere to satisfy all their needs. Mr. Morris is taking his tourism business very seriously. For instance, he bought a fleet of helicopters to transport guests from Cairns to Orpheus Island.

Jupiters will play a crucial role in this plan to not only expand his whopping business but also to follow his dreams. “Having the casino allows you the cash flow to do other things,” he said. And at the age of 66 he can afford it.

Despite the fact that the fight between Echo Entertainment and Crown Resorts to build a new casino in Brisbane and a proposed $8 billion mega gambling resort in Cairns are reinforced by the prospect of a boom in Chinese visitors, Mr. Morris believes his efforts in Townsville are aimed more at the locals, taking into consideration that there are limited direct flights to the regional centre.

To make up for his lack of gaming business experience and to take advantage of Jupiter’s “huge potential”, Mr. Morris has poached a casino guru Brad Morgan, who recently ran SkyCity Entertainment’s Darwin casino.

He said that Jupiters Townsville had been the worst-performing casino in Australia for a while, but why invest into the best-performing business which would be impossible to change and improve?

About The Morris Group

The Morris Group is an independent family-run Australian business operating across tourism, hospitality, renewable energy, finance, technology and aviation.

ABOUT US

Founded by Chris Morris, the founder of ASX Top-50 global company Computershare, the Morris Group is a network of businesses striving to create a positive impact and enable access to the best in people, places and quality of experience. Technology and innovation propelled our journey in the beginning, and continue to drive everything we do.

ABOUT US

The Morris Group believe economic success and environmental sustainability go hand-in-hand. We aim to exceed a ‘tread lightly’ approach by strengthening and enriching the environments in which we work; actively restoring, repairing and enhancing the natural ecosystems we operate within.

MORRIS GROUP

Philosophy

At Morris Group we believe business can be a force for good. Our vision of success is defined by strong communities, thriving environments and happy people.

We think every day is a chance to do something great and that there is always more that can be done to change the way we work, for the better.

We think every day is a chance to do something great

Fair & Equitable Society

Access to inclusive education, training and employment opportunities.
Strengthening regional economies and supporting economic transition.

Sustainability

Chris Morris Casino Atlantic City

Creating positive impact through responsible business management.
Funding environmental protection, regeneration, research and awareness.

Wellbeing

Fostering health, balance and joy through businesses which drive connection to nature, to one another, and to self. Funding medical research and safety initiatives.

Empowerment

Chris Morris Casino Entertainment

Investing in passionate people and providing the pathways and resources to unlock their potential to create success together.