“A casino in any region of the State would boost tourism”

GMB - What is your position regarding the legalization of casinos in Brazil? And what about the rest of gaming modalities?
André Dias - First, I think it is important to discuss the legalization of casinos in Brazil. It is an activity that generates a large tourist flow, many jobs, but on the other hand can somehow cause social problems linked to gambling addiction, among others. So, we have to look for the mechanisms to reconcile the benefits with the harms of the activity. What we can’t do is simply ban the business without looking for a way to equalize the issue. If gambling has so many benefits, such as increased tourist flow, jobs in hotels, casinos, restaurants, 53 tourism-related activities, we have to think about legalization and see how to minimize or exclude potential risks.

Do you believe that casinos could benefit tourism of your State?
For sure! A casino in any region of the state would boost tourism in the region. So, a casino in Belem, for example, will attract greater tourist flow to the capital. A casino on Marajó island will take more tourists to the archipelago. A river casino will also bring more tourist flow to the ports, wherever it goes. No doubt it would benefit tourism of Pará.

Are you in favor of only resort casinos or do you think there should be physical casinos independent of the big hotel chains?
Here is when we start to get into the detail of the question. The resort casino ensures that most of the flow in casinos is from tourists, which is what we want. The casino as a tourist activity is made for the tourist, not for the local population. And so, we minimize the social damage that the casino can generate with addiction, for example. If the casino is located in a resort, it already creates a barrier for the local consumer not to attend. In that sense, it's good to be inside a resort. Now it can also be located on a ship or a river cruise, and even though it is not on a resort, it also creates that barrier. Sometimes you can be in a smaller non-resort hotel, but outside an urban center to also create that barrier for the local population. What I think is important is that we can somehow slow down the flow of locals to casinos. And that the casino is mostly aimed at tourists.

What state’s cities could host casinos?
Initially, if we are talking about tourist flow, we have to think about cities that have accessibility to airports, such as Belém, Salinas (which has an airport under construction), Santarém, Marabá, Parauapebas or near Marajó Island, which is a place where we have worked a lot of tourism and is in the mentality and imagination of the people. It has to be places that already have a tourist flow, that has tourist infrastructure, so that the tourists can really get to the place and have a service network that meets them.

Do you know the position of most of your fellow tourism secretaries from other states on the subject of casinos in Brazil?
Most of them work in the same direction as seeking legalization. The format itself is undoubtedly controversial. Whether there are two casinos per state, three casinos per state, if only on resort, if only in impoverished places, if only in urban centers, these are all matters where there is no consensus. But everyone agrees and understands that is something that should be discussed, and that legalization is a subject for debate

 

Have you been following what happens in the Chambers of Deputies and Senators with gambling legalization laws? Do you believe this year there will be news about this?
We have, yes. The tourism bench has been working hard to discuss this in the House. And I am confident that we may have news later this year.

Have you considered traveling to Las Vegas or some other city to analyze the economic benefits of casinos for the state?
I have not thought of making these trips, because I have already done them; I have been to several cities that have casinos and, so, I already have this notion of how they work. And once legalized, we will do a stronger job of identifying, from a very technical point of view, the impacts that casinos have had on many cities around the world, especially in underdeveloped countries. I don't think Las Vegas is a benchmark. We have to look for countries that have more similar economic conditions with ours, such as Argentina and Uruguay or others, to be our parameters.

Source: Exclusive Games Magazine Brasil