A journey marked by two current events that professionals in the sector are looking forward to. On the one hand, a new autonomous government that everything seems to indicate will be more lax with regulatory legislation than the previous one. On the other hand, the need to tackle together a social responsibility project to protect players.

As a sign of the national interest in the event, this edition was attended by the Director General of Institutional Relations of the Junta de Castilla y León, Irene Muñoz, and also by the Director General of Technological Innovation of Melilla, Jesús Martínez.

The appearance of Inmaculada Domínguez, Director of Taxes and Gaming of the Generalitat Valenciana kicked off the day's proceedings. The director focused her speech on the gradual recovery of the sector after the pandemic and also on the need for the industry to face up to challenges that include more lax regulation and raising awareness in educational matters to guarantee a responsible gambling model in the Valencian Community.

After the appearance of the director, the first round table of the morning began, which focused its attention on the important challenges that Bingo professionals in the Valencian Community will have to face. Such important demands as a fair tax rate on Win that does not exceed 10% and an adequate and affordable regulation for the sector. 

Joaquín Iniesta, president of ALEBIN, focused on the important economic impact of the sector and the levels of recovery prior to the pandemic. Luis Portolés, president of ASVOMAR, lambasted Law 1/2020 on the regulation of gambling and the prevention of pathological gambling for endangering the sector. Marina Sánchez, director of Bingo La Bolera and Juan José Tébar, vice-president of ASVOMAR addressed the need for a positive promotion of the gambling sector. A sector that does not even represent 1% of the real data on pathological gambling in our country.

The second round table of the day addressed some of the possible payment solutions within the sector, focusing on the importance given by users to the issue of privacy. The speakers were Patricia Lalanda, partner at Loyra Abogados, Ignacio García, country manager for Spain at Okto, Héctor Iglesias, director of business and clients at PaynoPain, Alejandro Cereto, account executive at IPS and Javier Manceñido, Senior Sales Manager of Gambling at Paysafe. All of them agree that since the pandemic there has been a change in the dynamics of gambling halls, with a high percentage of payments in the form of bank withdrawals. For this reason, they say it is important to adapt the methods to the demands of users.

There was also time to penetrate one of the fundamental pillars of the gambling industry: sports betting. Karen Marcela Sierra-Hughes, vice-president for Latam, Caribbean and Spain at GLI; Jorge Justicia, CEO of Jokerbet; María González, general manager of Apuestas de Murcia and Unai Concha, director of business development at Sporting Groupn; moderated by Juan Muñoz, from Codere Apuestas, exchanged ideas in a presentation that focused the debate on emerging markets. The already well-known eSports were a source of controversy between those who believe that the future of betting lies in these sectors and those who see their potential as somewhat more limited.

Once again this year, attendees had the pleasure and good fortune to listen to Rodolfo Alico, director of BMM Testlabs. In a masterful conference, the speaker highlighted the role of the laboratories that certify suppliers to the gaming industry. He underlined the need to converge the expectations of the client - in this case the supplier - and the requirements of the regulatory body in order to achieve a correct homologation.

The future of Spanish Bingo is a question rather related to a present that requires a number of demands to be addressed. On the table is a top priority issue: the regulation of electronic bingo hall bingo. A key modality to revitalise the sector, professionals warn.  For this reason, David González, president of GREBIN, Juan José Sánchez, manager of CEJ, Santos Martínez, secretary of ASOBING, and Vicente Pechuán, director of EJUVA, debated this issue and the challenges it poses for a future marked by a possible new legislation.

To end the day, the last round table discussion shed some light on the keys to attracting and retaining customers. Roberto Bértolo, CFO of Luckia; Ramiro Atucha CEO of Vibra Gaming, Pere Moliné, B2B Marketing Director of GiG and Giovanni Falzone CEO and co-founder of The Power Plugin, together with Jorge Guerrero of Pastón, were the ones who confronted ideas on this occasion. The speakers agreed that most suppliers produce a fairly homogeneous product that users are unable to discern. Therefore, marketing supported by a powerful creative process is the key to achieving differentiation within the sector.

The day ended at 17:00 hours. Before a business area where the companies Infinity Gaming, Comatel, Triple Cherry, Gistra, Serpema, GeWeTe, IPS, GiG and the associations ASVOMAR and EJUVA stood out.  

Once again this year, Expojoc attendees were given the opportunity to learn about industry trends and to share and debate ideas that will help to improve the sector.