VIE 29 DE MARZO DE 2024 - 08:16hs.
Deputy Herculano Passos

"Integrated resorts with casinos could generate around 500 thousand jobs in Brazil"

In a new sample of support for the opening of casinos in Brazil, Deputy Herculano Passos (MDB-SP), coordinator of the Parliamentary Tourism Front, defends the legalization of the casino in the country in the model of integrated resorts. In an interview with Diário do Porto, he explained how they would help tourism and, despite some resistance from evangelical deputies, believes that the project will be put to a vote in the second half of the year.

The coordinator of the Parliamentary Tourism Front, Deputy Herculano Passos, defends that Brazil legalize casinos in the integrated resorts model, which bring together hotels, concert halls, shopping malls, convention centers, and a gaming venue, which should only occupy less than 5% of the enterprise. The integrated resort was defended by Mayor Marcelo Crivella - in an article in the newspaper O Globo published during the Carnival - as a good idea to develop the real estate market of Porto Maravilha.

A bill with this proposal has already been approved by a special committee of the House and is ready to be put to a vote in plenary, which should only happen in the second half, according to Herculano, because the priority is to approve the pension reform.

The following are the main excerpts from the interview of Deputy Herculano Passos for Diário do Porto:

The Parliamentary Tourism Front also discusses the legalization of casinos in the country. What are the chances of this project being approved and when can it go to the vote?
This subject was appreciated by a special committee in the House and had its report approved, but only that it be appreciated and voted in plenary. I think the report will only be discussed after the approval of the pension reform, so we are talking about the second half of this year.
The mayor, Rodrigo Maia, is very sympathetic to the model chosen by the report and will know how to put it to a vote at the right time.

How is the model you advocate for legalization?
I personally understand that the best format for legalization is that of integrated resorts, in which casinos are only a small part, less than 5%, of a complex that gathers hotels, malls, concert halls and convention centers. It is a model with great potential for job creation, income and tax collection.

Some criticize the integrated resorts model by saying they exclude poorer gamblers.
I am not an advocate of exclusion, but I believe that the model to be adopted is one that attracts Brazilians who are already traveling abroad to play and also the foreigners who travel around the world behind this kind of fun. I do not want a model that stimulates gaming for those who can not lose.
We know that at least two charter flights per week depart from Brazil to casinos in Uruguay. It was those who travel individually there and to other destinations in search of legal gambling.
These Brazilians are not interested in the illegal casinos that already exist in Brazil, in which the workers do not have their situation supported by the legislation and the businessmen do not collect taxes.

How much does illegal gambling move in Brazil?
There are estimates that illegal casinos, plus bingos and jogo do bicho, will move around R$ 20 billion (US$4.6bn) a year in the country, but I think that number is much higher.

In the bill to be voted in the House, is there any limitation to the number of casinos?
By the proposal in the Chamber, the casinos would be limited, having as a parameter the population of each State. Thus, the most populous, São Paulo, could have up to three casinos, Rio and Minas, two, and the others, one.

Does the more conservative profile of the House and Senate after the last elections make it difficult to approve this bill?
Yes. We have the resistance mainly of the evangelical deputies, but I usually debate with them remembering that gaming is legalized in most Christian nations, as in the USA, Europe and Latin America.
I remind them that when the activity was banned in Brazil in the 1940s, at least 50,000 people lost their jobs. Since then, Brazil has been standing still for 70 years, while other countries have modernized and disciplined gaming. We did not do that and so the illegal game thrived.

What is the estimated employment rate if the casinos are legalized again in the country?
We estimate that the integrated resorts will generate around 500 thousand jobs in Brazil. In hotels, there is an average of 0.8 jobs per room. In the integrated resorts, there is an average of 3.8 jobs per room. This is because the business is not just the hotel, but also the casino, restaurants, shopping malls, convention centers, and concert halls that make up the complex. Lots of people working, too much income and too much tax being generated.

When you speak about integrated resorts, what are the models of this type of business abroad that could come to Brazil?
We do not want isolated casinos, as they exist in Europe and in Latin American countries. The models we are looking for are in Las Vegas, in Macao, and especially in Singapore. This country, which is an island with 5 million inhabitants, received until 2010 around 12 million visitors annually. That year they approved and built an integrated resort, the Marina Bay Sands, and so far the number of tourists has grown by 50%, reaching almost 18 million people, triple the amount we received in Brazil.
The success of the integrated resort there has had repercussions throughout the economy. The hotel chain itself, which was already large, had the opening of 40 new establishments.

Source: GMB / Diario do Porto