ReportsITALY
predicted that if things continued the same for the rest of the year, 2009 could close with revenues of €470m. This is a drop of around seven per cent on €506m revenues last year.
Casino slots rake in the biggest share of the revenues taking on average 70 per cent of the earnings. For example Venice casino’s revenues on slots for August 2009 was €9.1m whilst SanRemo collected €7m the same month.
Meanwhile visitors in August topped 105,000 for Venice, 100,000 in SanRemo, 55,000 for Campione and 70,000 for Saint Vincent.
The casino sector hit the headlines recently as the trial starts in December for the son of Italy’s last king, Prince Vittorio Emanuele di Savoia who was arrested back in 2006 after being involved with prostitution and the mafia.
In addition it was said the 72-yer old Prince conspired with a Sicilian businessman Rocco Migliardi to obtain licences for illegal video poker machines to sell into the Swiss enclave, Campione D’Italia where the Prince lives.
The last king of Italy, Umberto II, was forced into exile in 1946 when Prince Vittorio Emanuele was just nine years old. After the 1946 referendum, the royal family and descendants were banned from entering Italy until 2002 when the ban was lifted. Prince Vittorio has maintained his Swiss residency.
Meanwhile one of the problems now is the adverse affect the Comma 6a machines is now having on the casino industry in Italy and also along the border towns.
The NewSlots can now feature Blackjack, roulette, poker and bingo and some say players seem to prefer to play on the Comma 6a games and revenue for this sector is increasing.
Others however still believe the two players are completely different and the casino market still has its niche clientele.
Tecnoplay’s Mauro Zaccaria said: “The casinos are very angry with our AWP machines because they play on the same machine and VLTs are more like a casino machine. You can bet €500 on a casino slot and walk away with nothing. But on these machines if you pay €500 you will get something back and it is a longer lasting game.”
Recently the Venice municipality announced its intentions to sell off its
minority share in the casino to a Russian interest. However the chief executive of the Maltese owned Venice Casino says that the municipality shareholding cannot be relinquished as it is bound by contract until 2015.
It is understood the Mayor of Venice Massimo Cacciari was in discussion with Russian businessmen over a possible privatisation of the casino. The casino is owned by Malta’s Vittoriosa Gaming Ltd of which the municipality holds a 40 per cent share whilst BetLive Ltd holds the majority.
The casino suffered €17m in losses whilst it was fully owned by the municipality up until 2005 and after selling off 60 per cent in 2006 the losses curtailed to around €500,000.
Meanwhile the casino recently obtained a licence to open six gaming halls plus four gaming halls in the water resorts in Italy (kursaal). The sites include:
• Abano- Located in the Hotel Venezia Terme the gaming hall opened in October 2008. It includes Newslots, two tournament poker tables and two computers with internet access.
• Venice Lido which opened in August 2008 at the Hotel Excelsior. The hotel celebrates its 100th anniversary and the gaming halls includes a bar, 24 slots and Texas Hold ‘em Poker tables, internet gaming stations and casino merchandise.
• Kursaal in Lignano opened in August 2008 and holds the largest number of slots plus Texas Hold ‘em and casino merchandise and bar.
• Gallio opened in August 2008 at the Gaarten Hotel Benessere and features slots and games.
• Palace of the Jesolo opened in July 2008 and includes NewSlot machines and Texas Hold ‘em Poker tournaments, a bar and entry is for 18 years and over.
In October the minister of Tourism has started the process to open further “mini casinos” in the 255 five star hotels across Italy.
CASINODICAMPIONE Casino di Campione is located in Campione d’Italia, an Italian enclave in Swiss territory on the shores of Lake Lugano, about 60 km from Milan. The casino was originally built in 1917 but two years later it was forced to close its doors and didn’t then re-open until 1933.
In 2006 the casino hit the headlines when
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