Chilean casinos show signs of recovery

According to the report of the Superintendency of Gambling Casinos of Chile (SCJ), only during the month of last June, the only three Chilean casinos that work resumed their activity at the moment contributed to the treasury 1.5 million dollars, being an important source of tax collection both locally, regionally and nationally.

Dynamics of Chilean casinos so far in 2021
After the end of a complex year, as it turned out to be 2020, this year began timidly with the progressive reactivation of some daily activities, among them, the possibility of being distracted by accessing a casino. Of the 26 officially registered casinos in Chile, only one remained partially operational during 2020, the Enjoy casino in Antofagasta.

At the beginning of 2021, three of them - the Enjoy Antofagasta, in the region of the same name, the Dreams of Punta Arenas, in the Magallanes Region, and the Colchagua Casino, in the O'Higgins Region - have already been able to adapt to the sanitary standards necessary for its safe operation and with a controlling partial capacity.

During the month of May the situation improved, as there were four rooms with activity in that month. The Dreams casino, in Puerto Varas -in the Los Lagos Region, in southern Chile- was open throughout the month, while the Colchagua Casino was in service for twenty-four days, and the Ovalle Casino & Resort - In the Coquimbó region, it offered services twelve days a month.

Surprisingly, the Enjoy de Antofagasta -which had been leading the activity of the sector- only managed to maintain its activity for eight days during the past month of May.

Throughout the month of June, three casinos completed a total of nineteen days of service -on average- for the attending public. However, the activity was variable among the three. While the Antofagasta casino once again led the activity - managing to open its doors throughout the thirty days of the month of June - the Dreams de Punta Arenas had commercial activities only during seventeen days of the month. For its part, the Casino de Colchagua only managed to provide service for nine days in this period.

Prospects for the remainder of the year
After verifying the favorable circumstances under which the activity of Chilean casinos has been developing as the year progresses, the new regulations that have been in force since July 15 will further increase this activity.

In order to expand the commercial offer of this sector, the national regulator - the SCJ - issued a new regulation. According to it, the visitor is required to be correctly immunized with two doses of vaccine and to have the corresponding mobility pass.

The representatives of the sector are satisfied and optimistic with the reactivation of the activities under phase 2. According to them, this opening will be beneficial to keep its workforce active, as well as to generate an important contribution to the treasury in its different levels of collection, either through VAT -both in its national, regional and local modalities-, as well as through the collection of Income Tax, at the central level.