Minister Sees Land-Based Gambling Bill as a Chance to Boost Tourism in Brazil
Date: 2024-09-24 Author: Robert Beloved Categories: EVENTS
Brazil is set to launch a regulated online betting market on January 1, 2025, but the issue of legalizing land-based gambling remains unresolved. Bill PL 2,234/2022, which includes permission to operate casinos, bingo, jogo de bicho, and horse racing, has yet to be debated and approved by the Senate.
Despite the fact that the bill was approved by the Justice and Citizenship Committee in June by a narrow margin (14 votes in favor and 12 against), it is still in limbo. Senator Iraja Abreu, who supports the initiative, claims that the necessary number of votes to pass the bill has already been collected, but there has been no progress so far.
The economic impact of legalizing online gambling is already being felt. The number of applications for the licence has reached 127, and with a licence fee of BRL30m (around £4.1m), the government could raise more than BRL3.8bn. However, potential revenue from land-based casinos remains unclear, as the fate of the bill has yet to be decided.
Tourism Minister Celso Sabino believes that legalising land-based casinos is essential to attracting more tourists to the country, estimating that annual gambling revenues could be around BRL20bn. While Sabino believes the actual figures will be lower, he sees the bill as a way to decentralise the country’s tourism destinations, supporting smaller resorts such as Olimpia in Sao Paulo state.
The minister also stresses the importance of clear rules to protect players. At the opening of the G20 Tourism Meeting in Belém, he noted that control in casinos will be strict: “People entering the casino halls will be identified, and those who are diagnosed with gambling addiction will not be able to enter the casino territory.”
Sabino is confident that the bill will be adopted, since it does not meet with serious resistance in the government. According to his estimates, the vote in the Senate could take place in early October, during the municipal elections, and then the document will be submitted to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for signature.
The project is also supported by Alex Pariente, Vice President of Hard Rock International. He sees the legalization of land-based casinos as a salvation for the Brazilian tourism industry. Pariente compares Brazil with the Dominican Republic, which, despite its much smaller size, attracted 10 million tourists in 2023, while Brazil only attracted about six million.
“Brazil is an incredibly beautiful and diverse country, but there is still no clear and stable tourism policy capable of attracting travelers,” concluded Pariente.
