Chile Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico’s tourism sector is currently booming. According to newly-released data, airport arrivals to Puerto Rico’s San Juan, Ponce and Aguadilla airports totalled 1.67 million in the first four months of last year, the highest-ever total in that period in Puerto Rico’s history. Between January and April 2019, occupancy spending for hotels and independent rentals combined reached $373.6 million, the highest in eight years, and an increase of 12.4 per cent compared to 2017 pre- Hurricane Maria levels.
Te increase was accompanied by US$445m in tourism revenue through May, another record total for the period. Te boom goes hand in hand with a number of new resorts including a $1.5bn destination resort development tied to a new Hyatt Regency as well as other developments.
Tis is good news for the casino industry, which has reported years of decreased revenues. Te Chief Financial Officer of the Tourism Company of Puerto Rico (PRTC), Luis Umpierre, reported last year that the entity's revenues had
increased in the last three years due to higher revenues from income generated by slots in casinos. Umpierre said the government received US$148m in 2018-19, an increase of almost US$6m compared to the 2017-18 period, during which time US$142m was raised.
Te results obtained in the last period also reflected an increase of US$7m when compared to the US$141m that the casino slots generated in 2016-17. Revenues will continue to go up as Puerto Rico’s tourism boom continues.
P144 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / MARKET DATA
Chile has long been an oasis of stability in the region, but this came to an abrupt end last year when two months of violent protests left 26 dead. Protests began over a price increase for subway tickets in the capital Santiago, but escalated quickly. Economic inequalities, living costs and rising debt caused anger in one of the most prosperous and stable democracies in Latin America. A number of cities in Chile were placed under a state of emergency while protestors took to the streets.
President Sebastian Piñera tried to ease tensions by announcing a plan to end a highly unpopular state of emergency and night-time curfews.
As well as other reforms including a minimum wage, increased state pensions and stabilised electricity prices, crucially the government also agreed to a vote in April on possible changes to the 1980 Chilean Constitution.
Te constitution was put in place during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet and ensured that economic and political power remained concentrated in the hands of the few.
With this in mind it is unlikely that there will be any major changes in the casino sector as the country readies itself for a referendum and possibly a new constitution. In addition, more protests could be forthcoming if the new constitution does not go far enough and the government fails to address the underlying cause of the protests.
Te first month of unrest caused an estimated US$4.6bn worth of infrastructure damage, and cost the Chilean economy around 1.1 per cent of its GDP. Instability has already taken its toll on casino revenue. Gross gaming revenue for the 19 casinos operating in Chile combined with the seven municipal casinos reached $32,036m Chilean pesos (US$41.6m) in October. Tis represented a drop of 22.3 per cent from the same month in 2018, while accumulated real growth stood at - 3.7 per cent, over the previous 12 months.
In January the board reported that Gross gaming revenue for November 2019 stood at $35,357 million Chilean pesos (U$S 45,778.470), a negative monthly variation of minus 6.5 per cent when compared to the same month last year, while accumulated real growth stood -4.5 per cent over the last 12 months. Revenues decreased again in December by -4.1 per cent when compared to the same month in 2018.
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