Is the party over? - Euroslot - the independent voice of the amusement and gambling industry

Is the party over?

Published: 29 November, 2011

We live, as the Chinese curse has it, in interesting times – and those of us in the eurozone particularly so. But our sector will, I think, both win and lose from the European crisis. It will gain (at least in the long term) from this turmoil because governments will have no option but to allow more gaming in order to raise revenue and reduce debt. Greece is of course next with VLTs, and we can expect to see other liberalisations along the Mediterranean.

Where this sector will lose is on the other side of the coin: taxation. It is also probable that consumers will spend less on leisure as the crunch continues, although it is by no means certain that this will translate directly into a reduction on gaming and amusements spend – it may well be, for example, that people will give up expensive foreign holidays and new TVs, but console themselves with a few more visits to the local gaming hall.

The bottom line for this sector, then, is that – counterintuitive as it may seem – now is precisely the time for companies to invest: to get in first where new opportunities present themselves, and to create an attractive leisure proposition for the European consumer.

Barnaby Page, editor

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