Blackstone Inc. is ramping up its bet on the global travel and leisure market with a $6.3 billion purchase of an Australian resort and casino operator.

The giant investment firm closed last month on its acquisition of Crown Resorts Ltd., a company that owns gaming resorts in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney. Its business has suffered over the past three years due to the pandemic and money laundering investigations into Crown by Australian financial and casino regulators.

Australia’s resorts have been slower to recover from the pandemic than those in the U.S. By the summer of 2020, the U.S. market started showing signs of strength as people cooped up for months sought the refuge of beaches and other open spaces within driving distance.

More recently, as Covid-19 cases have fallen and international air travel has increased, more resorts are benefiting. In May, the average daily rate for resorts globally was $212.78, compared with $161.82 in May of 2019, according to data firm STR.

The slower recovery speed of the Australian market is particularly true for resorts in larger cities like Melbourne, which spent over 260 days in lockdown since the pandemic hit. Blackstone believes those markets are now in a recovery mode, resulting in higher demand at Crown’s casino resorts.