Thriving economy and clear rules make Peru a magnet for foreign firms.
Peru is a popular destination in South America for both regular tourists and those looking to gamble.
The country has 700 gaming properties, including slot parlours. There are only 15 casinos with table games and 13 are located in the capital city, Lima. The casinos offer games that cater to every taste, including blackjack, roulette, craps, slots and poker.
Peru, the fourth largest country in South America with a population of 30 million, is home to around 70,000 licensed slot machines.
The country is increasingly attracting the attention of foreign casino operators and suppliers looking to broaden their scope in Latin America thanks to its buoyant economy and clear regulations.
Chile’s Dreams bought Peru’s third-largest casino, the Casino New York, in a deal worth $24m in late 2012 while Spain’s Grupo Egasa opened its first premises in the Andean country in March last year.
Dreams has since acquired two more gaming halls in the coastal capital of Lima and both companies say further expansion is possible as they seek to boost earnings and spread risk beyond their main domestic markets.
The current confidence in Peru among gaming investors shows just how much progress has been made since the 1990s when illegality was widespread and few slot parlours were licensed.
Only Colombia and Argentina are bigger than Peru in this region, but they have different regulatory frameworks, meaning that the situation in Peru is much more attractive moving into the future. Growth in Colombia and Argentina has been hampered by regulatory and political uncertainties and that has drawn some foreign companies toward smaller markets such as Peru.
Read the full article in the June issue of InterGaming
