Most recognise SAGSE Buenos Aires as one of South America's most established trade shows, this week's event attracted major operators and suppliers from across the region Latin America is naturally a diverse set of individual gaming markets each at various levels of maturity.
Argentina and Chile tend to be spoken of as the most established in the region, while others such as Panama, Peru and Mexico are moving towards greater regulation and product certification. Colombia too is embarking on this process and Ecuador is soon to follow. The strong appetite for gaming in the region and the move towards more sophisticated operations is encouraging.
Eduardo Aching of Konami explained that the region has been less affected by the economic downturn as elsewhere and so operators are choosing to make a real commitment to future growth.
"Even though there is economic turmoil around the world, Latin America was in a position to be able to handle the financial crisis. People didn’t panic," he said. "So they are still investing, expanding and opening. There was an impact for sure, but not as bad as in Europe or the US."
Although visitor numbers were expected to be slightly down on previous years, attendees were nonetheless here to do business. There are several recognisable tiers of the market and those who can afford to continue to look to invest in the latest machines and systems technology. For others it is a combination of some new products and some refurbished ones. Finally, there are those who are often new start-ups who look solely to the used machines market.
Hovering over the show, of course, is the spectre of legalised gaming in Brazil. The legislative process there seemed to be gathering momentum but the elections later this year have once again placed the issue on the back burner. Some exhibitors at the show have already begun to receive tentative inquiries from potential customers in Brazil and all it seems recognise the country’s potential as a huge machines market.
For now though, the rising star in Latin America continues to be Mexico and SAGSE gave manufacturers an opportunity to meet with a number of customers from there too, cementing the show’s reputation as a truly international event.
Aruze Gaming, which also had a strong showing at ELA in Mexico City earlier this year, was exhibiting at SAGSE for the first time. The company’s Steve Walther said that the first two days had been encouraging.
"For our first show down here we’re enjoyed fantastic traffic," he said. "It’s good to see this level of participation."
Austrian Gaming Industries chose not to exhibit at several smaller regional shows, preferring instead to focus its efforts on attending only the key events. A single show for the South American market, Jens Halle said, would make the most sense for suppliers.
"SAGSE is not only important for Argentina but also for Latin America," he said.
A full review of the events will appear in the November issue of InterGaming. Photos from SAGSE can be found on our Facebook page.
