French Casinos Finally on the Rise
You may have noticed; It’s been a tough time for casinos in Europe for the past few years. Even though you could clearly feel the ease on legislation, the smoking bans and economic crisis chased customers away. This has been on one hand beneficial to online businesses and operators who were wise enough to expand their services online have managed to recoup some of the losses that they suffered on the ground. In any case though, given the cost of running a physical venue with employees and technical equipment, it has been a blow and everyone has felt it.
France has been no exception. But 2015 may have just been the lucky year for operators in the country of love and wine (alright and cheese…and art…oh stop it already!), driving 2.2% increase in revenue (amounting to €2.2b in 2015) – the first positive growth in the industry for the past seven years.
Logically, both – government and operators – are thinking of “riding” the moment and expanding, giving the industry a long awaited opportunity to regain its positions. You can imagine the government (especially on local level) would benefit from taxes. To give an example – the Mayor of Marseilles, Jean-Claude Gaudin, announced this month that the city will be opening a casino. A public tender is to be launched. Mr. Gaudin is basing his decision on a study he has commissioned to be conducted in the area, concluding that a local casino would create over 500 jobs and bring a potential10 million euro in tax revenues every year. Another outstanding example is the city of Deauville – where 30% of the local budget is on the shoulders of gambling operators’ taxes.
France has a long history of limiting casinos to touristic destinations and not allowing them in bigger towns. This however is hopefully about to change. A recent step forward was allowing members only poker clubs in Paris last year. A similar practice we’ve seen in London. Sadly, it comes a bit too late for one of the iconic venues known to all well-established gamblers – the world-famous Aviation Club de France (ACF). It was closed last year after more than 100 years of history, home to a huge number of great players. Many French and international players and gambling lovers campaigned back then to re-open the club, keeping the history and beauty of the place alive and saving its over 200 employees from losing their jobs. They didn’t manage to save the club, leaving Paris with only one option for poker players – the Cercle Clichy Montmartre who also has a license valid only until 2016. Let’s wait and see how this will unravel.