Goa - Pearl of the East
Goa’s long history as a Portuguese colony prior to 1961 is evident in its churches and tropical spice plantations
Situated in the Malabar Coast, Goa is known as India’s ‘Pearl of the East’ with Gothic churches, crumbling ports and palm fringed beaches. With a 131km coastline and tropical climate it has become a popular hot spot for rest and relaxation with around 29 beaches.
Today Goa sees over eight million tourists annually alone, of which seven million are domestic and the remaining one million foreign, with visitors from Russia and the UK the highest numbers. It attracts affluent North Indian families and has a roaring economy. Tere are over 3,800 hotels/guest houses in Goa offering over 73,600 beds. Te Mandovi River is one of two large rivers (the other being Zuari) and there are three major cities, Marmagao, Madgaon and Panaji which is the capital city.
Goa has been promoting casino tourism for the last couple of decades. It’s been a well needed economic boost especially in the aftermath of the mining ban which saw the government lose substantial revenues. Te first casinos arrived in Goa back in 1992 after William Britto, the first and only Goan to hold a casino licence, persuaded the government to amend the Public Gaming Act 1976 to permit casino gambling.
Today there are eight electronic casinos in Goa which operate from five star resorts along the coast. Later in 1998 offshore casinos were permitted and today there are six offshore casinos anchored in the Mandovi River. Tese are:
Casino Pride – this vessel offers 30,000sq.ft over three floors of gaming with around 40 table games. It attracts Indian high rollers who come to play Indian Flush and also hosts poker tournaments. It is operated by the Casino Pride Group which operates a total of four casinos India - two floating casinos in Goa and two onshore casinos in Goa (Casino Paradise in the Neo Majestic in Porvorim and Casino Palms in La Calypso, Baga). It has a fifth casino in Nepal.
Casino Pride 2 – this is the Casino Pride Group’s second floating casino. Previously known as the Casino Carnival (owned by Marriott Resort and Spa), this smaller casino was sold to the Pride group in 2014 and renamed. It has 27 tables over two floors.
Deltin Royale – this ship offers 24,000sq.ft of gaming space spread over five decks with a total of 964 gaming positions across 120 tables and 60 slots. Tere is a dedicated poker room and exclusive room for Indian Flush. Te casino began operations in 2013 and also boasts India’s largest poker room.
Deltin Caravela – this was the first offshore live gaming casino to open and is named after the Portuguese ship that came to Goa in the 16th
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century. It is the only floating casino/hotel in India and was newly refurbished in 2016. Te Caravela is a more intimate casino aimed at serious gamblers and there are 217 gaming positions with 20 tables.
Deltin Jaqk – previously called the Casino Royale this floating casino began its operations in 2008 and was renamed in 2013 and has three floors of gaming and 431 gaming positions via 54 tables and 15 slots plus separate VIP rooms.
Big Daddy Casino – owned by Golden Globe Hotels Private Ltd it is the newest casino which opened in May last year. It is a 72m long and 24m wide Panamanian vessel and is touted as the biggest and most modern offshore gaming destinations in Asia and offers three levels of gaming with 110 tables and 900 slots with a VIP gaming room on one floor with no-limit tables.
Goa has been promoting casino tourism for the last couple of decades. Te first casinos arrived in Goa back in 1992 after William Britto, the first and only Goan to hold a casino licence, persuaded the government to amend the Public Gaming Act 1976 to permit casino gambling.
Golden Globe Hotels is owned by Gopal Kanda who hit the headlines recently after winning elections in the State of Haryana (bordering the city of New Delhi). Kanda was formerly a minister in Haryana back in 2009 but lost in 2014. He stems from a rags-to-riches type background having made his money in real estate, MDLR Airlines and latterly Golden Globe Hotels which operates hotels and malls in Gurgaon and the offshore casino in Goa.
He has been involved in several controversial issues the biggest being the allegation that he abetted the suicide of a young air hostess who worked at MDLR. She committed suicide in 2012 whilst the air hostesses mother killed herself six months later also blaming Kanda in her suicide note.
An initial charge of rape was later dropped and Kanda was granted bail in the abetment to suicide case in 2014.
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