South America is a hive of casino activity but the quality of regulation varies. However, major strides are being made in the right direction.

South America

SOUTH America has long been regarded by the international casino community as second only to Asia in terms of both current activity and future potential.

The only disappointment - but it’s a big one - is the fact that the region’s largest country by far, Brazil, does not permit casino gaming. There have been glimmers of hope in the past that the country would open its doors again to casinos, but recently there have been no signs of movement. So Brazil remains a sleeping giant as far as gaming is concerned.

However, healthy industries in countries such as Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Peru keep both operators and suppliers busy. Clarity of regulation does vary from nation to nation, but progress has been made in this area over the past couple of decades. The extent to which the industry in South America has grown can be gauged by the SAGSE Buenos Aires trade show in Argentina. When it was first held in 1993 it took up a small room in a hotel.

Now it is the largest show on the continent and has been followed by the introduction of four other shows: SAGSE Panama, FADJA Colombia, FADJA Peru and the Peru Gaming Show.

The 22nd SAGSE will take place this month and will once again reflect a healthy casino industry in South America, even though ongoing importation problems in Argentina itself are hampering domestic business.

Argentina has 77 casinos, the largest of which is the Casino de Tigre in Tigre, a town in the north of Buenos Aires province, which has 1,700 gaming machines and 74 tables. The economy of the country of 44 million people has, however, experienced more downs than ups recently.

In an effort to stimulate local industry and help fight one of the world’s highest inflation rates - private analysts calculated that it was running at around 30 per cent earlier this year - the Argentine government clamped down on imports, especially those seen as “luxury” goods.

As gaming equipment falls into this category and there are no local manufacturers that can meet the demand, operators have been struggling to get new equipment into their casinos. Antonio Rao Ferrari, president of the Argentine Chamber for the Gaming Industry, said the restrictions are a major headache for casino operators.

Read the full article in the November issue of InterGaming