The legalization of a wide range of gaming modalities in Brazil has entered the list of priorities in the Congress. The president of the Tourism Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, Newton Cardoso Júnior (MDB), submitted a formal request to the president of the House, Rodrigo Maia (DEM), for this proposal to be voted on until September this year. The Bill 442/1991 unites about 20 proposals for regulation of games already existing in Congress and will allow the implementation of casinos in several cities of Brazil, with at least nine in Minas Gerais state. Even before its approval, hotel businessmen are already starting to plan million-dollar investments to reactivate gaming houses in the state and generate jobs.
"We made an agreement with Rodrigo Maia to focus on this theme, which we consider to be fundamental for the development of tourism in Brazil, since it will increase the number of visitors, the generation of jobs and, consequently, the economy of the country," comments the deputy. The current proposal under discussion benefits Minas Gerais because it guarantees that cities with hydro-mineral resorts and that have hosted casinos in the past may have gaming houses. "Minas Gerais will be the most benefited state because it is the one with the highest number of municipalities that fit this rule," says the president of the Brazilian Legal Gaming Institute (IBJL), Magno José Santos de Souza.
Created in 1942, the Palace Hotel of Caxambu, in the South of Minas, hosted a casino until 1946, when the activity was banned in the country. The owner of the venue, José Perez Gonzalez, eagerly awaits the legalization of the activity to reactivate the roulettes. He intends to invest R$ 50 million (US$13.5m) to adapt the structure and hire another 190 employees, to increase from the current 60 to 250. The return, he said, will come in the medium term. "We have an occupancy rate of 25% today. I think it can reach 80% with the casino," he says.
The current administrator of the Hotel Brasil, in São Lourenço, in the South of Minas, Marco Aurélio Lage, sees in the legalization of gaming an opportunity to live the stories as he grew up listening. And, by breaking, raise the occupancy rate from the current 40% to 90%. "My grandfather, João Lage, inaugurated the hotel in 1917. The casinos were officially opened in Brazil in 1920. At the time, all hotels were crowded, many tourists came from outside. With the ban, we have lost space for other countries in Latin America," he says. To "get ideas" for investment, he goes to casinos in other countries twice a year.
The Tauá Grande Hotel and Termas de Araxá, which was one of the most luxurious gaming venues in the country, will also receive players again, according to the group's president, Daniel Checker Ribeiro. In this case, the idea is to close partnerships. "We have a lot of interest in reopening a casino there, and I think in a couple of years we have been able to approve the project. We think of partnering with some outsiders to make the investment viable," he explains.
State revenue would increase US$ 530 million
The return of gambling in Minas Gerais cities would represent a tax revenue of R$ 2 billion (US$ 530m) a year and the generation of approximately 18 thousand direct jobs, according to IBJL’s president, Magno José Santos de Souza.
"Games can still take a lot of development to the cities where they will be located. Just to get an idea, I estimate that the municipalities will distribute a cake of R$ 100 million (US$ 27m) a year in taxes. In times of crisis, that makes a lot of difference," he says.
Still according to Souza, only Brazil, Ecuador and Cuba ban casinos throughout America. "There is no plausible argument for this prohibition. Gambling has very high taxation to be used as money laundering. It is much better to use other activities. In addition, pathological players already play, because the games never cease to exist with the prohibition. The country has stopped collecting without the activity," he says.
According to IBJL data, Brazil has more than 600 gaming houses, with hundreds of them in Minas Gerais. In addition, the country has at least 150 illegal casinos, of which dozens are located in this state’s towns.
More about the project
What can be approved: All fortune Games: casino, jogo de bingo, federal and state lottery games, fixed odds betting and electronic betting.
Where can a casino be opened: States with a population of up to 15 million inhabitants will have one casino. Those with a population between 15 million and 25 million, such as Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, may have two. Those with more than 25 million inhabitants may have three. Only São Paulo has this population.
Hydromineral Resorts: What will allow Minas Gerais to have more casinos is the amendment that gives right to the cities with hydromineral resorts that already had casinos to reactivate old gaming venues.
Mina Gerais’ cities that had casinos in the past:
Araxá: It had the casinos of the Grande Hotel and the Casino of Araxá
Belo Horizonte: There was the Pampulha Casino, where the Pampulha Art Museum currently operates.
Cambuquira: Elite Casino
Caxambu: Great Hotel and Casino João Carlos
Conceição do Rio Verde: There was a casino there
Lambari: Lake Casino
Poços de Caldas: It was considered the Brazilian Vegas with more than 20 casinos. Cassino Ao Ponto, Cassino Antigo, Cassino Gibimba, Cassino Imperial, among others.
São Lourenço: It has eight casinos, such as Hotel Brasil (existing until today)
Source: Fonte: Tatiana Lagôa - O Tempo
