But the possible return of casinos within five-star resorts has been included in the upcoming referendum, which is a typical method for enforcing new laws and economic and political measures in the South American country.
The plans come under new proposals from current Ecuador President Daniel Noboa.
On 5 August, Noboa set out seven questions to be included in the upcoming referendum, including whether to allow casinos in five-star hotels and whether the sector should be taxed at a rate of 25% of sales.
This tax revenue would go towards the financing of programmes to combat chronic child malnutrition and school feeding. The question was at first rejected by Ecuador’s Constitutional Court because it was considered unclear for the public and included three topics in one question.
However, the question was then reformulated to focus on just the legalisation of gambling in five-star hotels. This was subsequently approved by the Constitutional Court.
Casino infrastructure is already in place, says local expert
The referendum is set to take place on 16 November and, should the re-legalisation of casinos receive the required support, Juan Carlos Loza Mendoza, head of LatAm gambling sales at ProntoPaga, predicts it won’t be long before land-based gambling makes a return to Ecuador.
“I think it will just be a couple months,” Mendoza tells iGB. “The infrastructure is ready. The culture is ready. Sports betting sites and online casinos are now working on it.”
“The financial ecosystem and the payment ecosystem is ready to receive [land-based gambling]. There is a lot of protection [for] a big amount of money that will be processed. They’re ready. I believe it will be just a matter of couple of months, maybe three months.”
Land-based casino return in Ecuador would be ‘sensational’
Mendoza says the return of legal land-based casinos to Ecuador would be “sensational”.
Ramiro Atucha, who was CEO of platform provider Vibra Gaming between 2020 and 2025 and is an expert on LatAm gambling, believes the phrasing of the question centring gambling in five-star hotels is important.
“What’s happening now is they are working on authorisation and regulation for land-based casinos, but tied to five-star hotels which, in my opinion, is a very good start because it’s going to bring investment to Ecuador,” Atucha says.
“Ecuador is a very interesting market because their currency is the US dollar, so that simplifies things a lot. It has about 20 million inhabitants. It’s not that big, but it’s a dollar economy.”
However, Atucha notes Ecuador is currently facing social issues and political unrest, including a spate of violent protests after Noboa’s government decided to cancel fuel subsidies.
The Ecuador government claimed Noboa was the target of an alleged assassination attempt earlier this month.
Atucha says if the situation calms down, Ecuador could benefit hugely from the economic investment that comes with legal land-based gambling.
“They’re struggling with electricity, they’re struggling with social protest, et cetera,” Atucha declares. “If they manage to improve that situation and they manage to get some five-star hotels, it’s going to be very good for the economy, especially if it’s well taxed. Imagine if all the money that is currently being gambled with no taxes at all had some tax. The difference would be huge.”
Ecuador online reform shows progress
Notably, the 2011 referendum only strictly banned physical gambling, with online betting not forbidden. Last year, Ecuador introduced reforms for its online betting grey market, with a 15% gross revenue tax for sports betting coming into effect on 1 July 2024.
Executive Decree No 313 also implemented a 15% withholding tax on player winnings.
The Ecuador government then lifted a ban on sports betting advertising, another signal of growing acceptance of gambling in the country.
Santiago Albán, managing partner of Ecuadorian law firm Heka, believes the online reform observed last year is an indicator the government is willing to implement a regulated land-based sector.
“The online betting reform demonstrated the government’s capacity and willingness to integrate gaming activities into the formal economy, establishing clear taxation, reporting and compliance obligations,” Albán comments.
“This development not only reflects a shift towards a controlled and transparent model of supervision but also serves as a regulatory precedent for the potential relegalisation of land-based casinos.”
Source: iGB
