The expansion of gaming in the country has coincided with its general development, discovers Simon Liddle.

It’s a Monday evening in February and at Casino Agadir on Morocco’s Atlantic coast, the gaming floor is buzzing with guests trying their luck on the tables and taking a spin on the slots. A healthy mix of local players and tourists occupy the various tables and machines as attentive members of staff help to guide them through any unfamiliar new games. The result is a friendly and unintimidating atmosphere, ideal for both experienced players and those new to gaming.

Watching from the wings is casino chief executive Shaun Acad, who surveys a gaming floor that under his leadership has been transformed into one of most sophisticated gaming properties in the country.

Connected to the five-star Hotel Atlantic Palace complex, Casino Agadir is among the seaside resort’s biggest draws. It is also one of three casinos in Agadir and one of just seven in the country. Acad divides his time between Agadir and Tangier in the north of the country, where he also operates Casino de Tanger, a property in the centre of more business-oriented city.

The expansion of gaming has gone hand-in-hand with the country’s own development in recent years, which has largely been driven by the burgeoning tourism market and the widening middle class. There are a further two casinos in Marrakesh, the first of which, Casino Saadi, opened in 1952, and another in El Jadida. Licensed full casinos are permitted to have live table games and slots, the number and limits of which are determined by the properties themselves. In Agadir, regular poker tournaments and prize draws take place throughout the year, bringing in the serious player and novice alike.

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"Morocco is a very progressive country," Acad explains. "There is huge development in almost all sectors.

"Morocco is transforming itself to become much more modern and the quality of life, compared with other countries, is very high."

Both culturally and geographically, Morocco is the gateway between North Africa and Europe. Tangier is now just a 40-minute ferry crossing and a 30-minute flight from Spain and Spanish visitors and business executives traveling to the city are often drawn to Casino de Tanger. Situated in the modern Movenpick Hotel, the casino is set across two floors offering both live tables and slots. It opened 10 years ago and in that time has seen the city undergo significant changes, with new business and leisure facilities opening up. The casino itself has also been a significant contributor to the city’s economic success and job creation by hiring local staff.

In addition to Spanish visitors, Morocco’s cities and increasingly popular beach resorts attract visitors from all over Europe and the Gulf states, as well as further afield. Although relatively small in number, the country’s casinos are nonetheless integral to its tourism offering.

Says Acad: "Morocco is dependent on international business and one of the positive things about the market is that it attracts a lot of visitors from abroad. The tourist industry is therefore an important part of the casino market."

There is talk, he says, of building additional casinos in Ouazazate, an area known to attract Hollywood filmmakers searching for somewhere suitable to stage their epic blockbusters. Whether the Las Vegas-style casinos being discussed ever come to fruition remains to be seen, but it at least demonstrates the government’s openness to the expansion of gaming as part of the overall tourism industry.

Located at the heart of Agadir’s tourist resort, Casino Agadir is ideally placed to take advantage of the growing number of visitors to the region. Acknowledging the shift towards a more comprehensive entertainment experience, Acad has assembled a team of experienced and talented staff to ensure guests receive the highest level of service anywhere in the city.

The casino’s chef S Aziz, for example, was recently named the best in Agadir at the 2011 Horexpo, while chef Ramdani at Casino De Tanger has led a distinguished career in some of the finest kitchens in Europe, Asia and Morocco. It is flourishes such as these that, while not diverting attention away from gaming, serve to further augment the casino’s overall experience.

Having opened in 2004 with just 60 machines, it now boasts more than 180 - a number that will continue to grow - across a single continuous floor. Developing and modernising the casino’s gaming segment is a continual process and Acad is keen to bring new ideas to the market. Making the trip to the London show each year enables him to keep abreast of the latest trends in gaming, while his years of experience of casinos around the world and meticulous attention to detail ensure he knows what will work best on his own floor.

"Our investment programme is ongoing and we’re constantly taking old slots out and bringing new slots in so our customers can enjoy a variety of different types of games," he says. "In our operations we concentrate on investing to upgrade the slot floor because the world is trending towards online and electronic systems.

"In the last few years we have introduced new companies to the Moroccan market, such as Alfastreet, Novomatic and Bally, and that is why we visited the show to see the latest technology and to make sure we always get the best technology on the floor for our customers."

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In addition to its live games, which include roulette wheels from Cammegh, the property initially started out with games from Atronic and IGT. It subsequently broadened its offering with the introduction of slots from Bally and Novomatic, while in March, the casino was planning to add a second roulette multiplayer and further terminals from Alfastreet.

"We were the first to introduce Alfastreet to the market in Morocco and with them we are doing very well," Acad says. "After us, other casinos purchased equipment from them."

Casino de Tanger, which already boasts more than 200 slot machines and 30 live gaming tables, also has a new automated wheel and eight new terminals to add to its existing Alfastreet multiplayer. New slots from Novomatic are expected to perform strongly there as well and the casino remains ahead of the curve with a major investment in Bally’s SDS system, which Acad says offers the management there greater flexibility and marketing opportunities.

Of course, this is only half of the story. Having undertaken the process of "aggressively" updating the gaming floor with the latest technologies and games, both casinos are now reaping the rewards. However, Acad warns that the transition from older machines to the new generation of equipment must always be done with the player in mind. This is, after all, a business built on customer relationships and an almost intuitive sense of their expectations and requirements is needed.

"We can see that there are some customers who like the old games, which is why you cannot change the whole floor at once," he says. "You need to change from the old to the new but in a very sensible way so the customers have the time to adjust."

Technology alone will not guarantee success for any casino and it is here that Acad stresses the importance of developing a stronger understanding of the client base and providing a service tailored to them.

"As much as you invest in the property with slots or live games, it is very important to have a high level of customer service. It doesn’t make any sense to have the best technology or variety of slots if you don’t provide good customer service.

"That is one of our key objectives - we spend a lot of time training our staff and improving our service to ensure the customer has a good experience."

So is it working? Acad thinks so.

"In Agadir, all of our customers say we have the best atmosphere and I think this is the main goal of any casino. Most people looking for gaming and entertainment choose to come to us."