His choice was defined on Thursday by President Michel Temer in conjunction with Ministers Carlos Marun, Secretary of Government, Moreira Franco, General Secretariat of the Presidency, MDB leader in the Chamber, Whale Rossi, and Beltrão himself.
Upon assuming his new position, Lummertz leaves the chair assumed in 2016 at Embratur, and Brazil's foreign promotion body has not yet announced a replacement.
"Embratur favors the approval of gaming and the creation of casinos with integrated resorts," Lummertz said in his 2017 talk at the Brasilian Gaming Congress. He supported the installation of casinos in Brazil to improve the country's revenue in the tourism sector and believes that should start with the installation of two or three establishments to experiment, but always within hotel-resorts.
Some of the main parts of the interview granted in the CB.Poder program, a partnership between Correio Braziliense and TV Brasília:
There is a debate in Congress about the liberation of gaming and casinos in the country. What is your opinion on this?
It is part of the backward view of the country. Looks like we're living in a bubble. Brazil is a bubble. Let's talk about hotels and casinos. We travel to bet in the United States and we are good players. We spend a lot on it. What you need to be careful about is the income issue and the idea that casinos should be in resorts. This is our proposal. In Las Vegas, gambling is no longer the main business of the city, but the congresses and shows that take place in hotels. There are concerts assembled that make US$200 million and remain 10 years performing. The economy is linked to culture, the arts, shows and sports. The casinos ended up being a means of holding a magic.
Would casinos be restricted to a few spaces?
Yes, we're actually talking about two or three casinos because you have to try first. There are some seminars in Brazil, talks with experts from other countries. It's moving well into acceptable logic, because it's not just in this area that we live in a bubble. See the area of the natural spaces and the marine areas. Here it takes 12 years to license a marina. In the United States it takes three months, with a three-page paper process.
Source: GMB
