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Microcap & Penny Stocks : NuOasis (NUOA) formerly NONA -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ghostme who wrote (541)	10/24/1998 11:58:00 AM
From: Ken Sammut	Respond to of 1622

Ted just asked me to copy my post that I wrote right after I got back from Tunisia in March. It was a shame that the Gammarth developer had so many delays or NUOA may not have faced as difficult summer as it did. NUOA has a suit against the developer but who knows how long it will be before the suit is settled. >>>Just flew in from Rome. We spent 5 days in Tunisia (3 in Gammarth and 2 in Hammamet) and 2 days in Rome. I grew up in the New York Metro area and thought New Yorkers were crazy drivers. They do not have anything on Tunisians and Romans. I think only Americans use one lane at a time when driving. Except for the driving, my wife and I really enjoyed both Tunisia and Rome. The Gammarth complex is beautiful! According to the casino site manager who was nice enough to show us around, the project should be complete in about 30 days or so. At that time, NUOA will have to bring in the carpeting, slots, tables, and whatever else is needed. Everything is hand crafted. I can see why it has taken so long. You would not believe all the ceramic tiles, paintings, statues, etc. that were done by hand. They use very little if any power tools. The Gammarth casino is huge in comparison to Hammamet. The Gammarth complex is only 25 minutes from downtown Tunis. It is located near several resort hotels. I sincerely believe having the cabarets will help bring in a lot of tourists. The hotel was only 10 to 15% full when we were there but just a week before we arrived, they had 200 foreign guests staying for a special function. The complex has three outdoor pools, one indoor pool and is right on the water. The villas next door with its own shopping mall will be beautiful when complete. Construction looked like it was almost done. Just up the road (about 5 minutes) is the main part of town with smaller hotels. It looks like a lot of construction is and will be taking place as time goes on. The Hammamet hotel was more busy. About 40% full. The casino sits just to the left of the hotel. I met with the casino Director who was very nice and candid. He admitted that it was difficult to set up a real marketing plan for this off season as the delays made it impossible to plan. He believes that junkets from foreign countries to the nearby hotels during the off season is the best way to build up business during the off season. I asked him about the one junket we had heard about but it never came about as the tour company wanted to large a percentage of the casinos winnings to set up the junket. When you enter the casino, you receive a copy of a one sided US dollar bill as a souvenir. They are also numbered in consecutive order. My wife was 4934 and I was 4935. I do not know if they have been handing out the dollars from the first day but if they were, then the casino has been averaging about 50 people a day. The casino opens at 8:00pm during the off season but will open during the afternoon when peak season starts. The Arabs who tend to frequent the casinos the most, do not show up until after 11:00pm. It does not get busy until 1:00 in the morning! There were at least 15 to 20 huge hotels be built next to and all along the strip. There will be 40 hotels altogether being built in the next three years. Just a few will be ready for this peak season. The casino does send a bus to the other hotels to pick up casino guests. The hotel is in Hammamet Sud (South). There is a casino which we did not see in Hammamet downtown. NUOA has the exclusive rights to the Hammamet South area. Hammamet city is okay but the Sud region will be the real growth area. During the off season, all the slots (about 65 slots and poker machines) are in the main room. The machines are French and have a terrible percentage for the house. 110 new machines which are US programed will be installed by mid April in time for the big rush. Also in the main room is about 8 tables. From what we saw, the tables seemed to be getting more action than the slots. Overall we had favorable impressions. NUOA will have to advertise when the peak season begins and place better signage on the main strip so guests at other hotels will know that there is a casino next to the Occidental Hammamet Hotel. The hotel and casino are about 500 yards back off the road. The villas that are also being built at that property are in front of the hotel and casino. It was also my impression that the casino and the Hammamet Occidental do not have much of a working relationship. They do not even have brochures in each room. The Gammarth Hotel had the Hammamet casino brochure in each room and throughout the huge lobby area. I learned that the casino would rather work with a more friendly hotel (located just down the block).