INSIGHT LATAM MARKETS
Known as the ‘land of many waters,’ the world’s widest and longest single-drop waterfall is located on Guyana’s Potaro River in the Kaieteur National Park. At 226 metres the water flows over a series of steep cascades that bring the total height of the falls to 251 metres. Four times higher than Niagara Falls, Kaieteur is among the most powerful waterfalls in the world.
Gambling in Guyana
Designed to attract foreign investment and promote tourism a new gaming act was presented in Parliament in late 2006 and in 2007 the act was approved by the National Assembly. Te Gambling Prevention (Amendment) Act of 2006, which is an amendment of the Gambling Prevention Act Chapter 9:02 of 1902, provides for a Gaming Authority and states that only three casino licences may be distributed in each of Guyana’s 10 regions.
Te bill bars existing hotels and resorts that do not fulfil certain requirements and conditions, from establishing casinos on their premises. Tese include rules which stipulate that casinos can only be established in new hotels with 150 rooms. In addition, the bill rules that only guests can play.
Licences are granted through the Gaming Authority of Guyana which went into operation in 2007. In 2014 Guyana's President Donald Ramotar said he wanted to change the law so that more gambling licenses could be issued in hotels. However, only one licence was issued for the Princess Casino in capital Georgetown in 2010. Sleep- In International Hotel signed an agreement with the Guyana Office
for Investment under which the government agreed to provide the company with a licence provided that the company built a minimum of 155 rooms in 2017. Tis began a long drawn out battle as the government refused to grant the operator a licence. After the company appealed to the High Court, the licence was finally granted in 2020.
While the process has been a slow one the industry is now expected to expand with the government announcing major changes to its gambling laws. Tere will be a significant increase in the demand for hotel rooms as the fuel industry booms and the government is also attempting to attract more tourists as it invests in wider infrastructure. Te government has given the go ahead for a number of new hotel developments mostly in and around Georgetown. Guyana’s Minister of Tourism Oneidge Walrond recently announced that the government hoped to have 2,000 hotel rooms by 2025. Seven new hotels are planned for construction for this year alone.
In June, Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo and Attorney General Anil Nandlall announced that a new gaming bill will be created which will allow for more casinos. Te exact details of the new bill have
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