Peru: The Casino and Slot Machine Games Convention was held online for the first time

Speakers were: Engineer Manuel San Román, Mincetur General Director, Ana María Padros, Founder and General Manager of Team Seven, and Dr Jorge Cantuarias, lawyer.

Manuel San Román explained the progress on the protocol currently being worked on for the opening of the gambling halls, and said that he shares the concern of all operators, as well as the ministers, who propose different alternatives to help this activity.

He commented on the advantages of the SIP (Integral System of Casinos), a virtual platform that works 365 days a year: "It is made up of a system that has been running for a long time, and that as a result of this pandemic we consider it to be a primary tool Through the platform, operators enter and can do administrative procedures, such as express authorizations, modifications, extensions, etc. They must enter the MINCETUR website, and from there they can enter the system. "

He then explained the steps to enter the system and presented the index of the draft sectoral health protocol to COVID-19, which includes how to implement preventive sanitary measures.

"The licensee must implement preventive sanitary measures and verify compliance with the protocol. Workers and clients must comply with all measures, and the social distance (1 meter) must be respected at all times. The rooms must be ventilated, Physical protection barriers will be established in the box, there will be hand disinfection points, etc. Customers should always use the face mask. Suppliers must also have protocols for COVID-19, "he said.

When asked about a possible opening date, San Román says he hopes that the rooms will be reopened by August, and for this it is necessary that the protocols are already approved by that date. He also said he believes restaurants are going to leave before the rooms. Then, San Román then answered inquiries from the operators.

Meanwhile, Ana María Padros shared the marketing strategy for post-start casinos of COVID-19. She spoke about how our industry is going to transform: "Contributions: innovation, entrepreneurship and the nonconformity that we are seeing on the part of the entrepreneurs who are in favor of getting out of this crisis," she said.

Then she spoke about the new normal. "We must prepare ourselves to live with this in the long term. A life of social distancing and being aware of disinfection is our new normal. It is important to build new gambling habits, and that the offer is diverse, both physically and online. The environment safe and comfortable depends on the sanitary quality that we can deliver to our clients, to give confidence and that our businesses can have movement. Communication is basic, and we have to implement it at all levels of our business, so that our clients find out about everything we are doing. We do not know if the vaccine is going to be the solution, and therefore, these precautions of the health services, for example, any element that in the long term guarantees that people have less contact will play in favor of the casinos are a reliable place. "

"Phase 4 estimates the return of operations in August. It is important to have a date and work for the date that is currently set. If this date is moved later, we will be ready to implement it at any time. This will be the basis for our resumption of operations. There are also internal protocols, which must be defined, "she added. "Marketing after COVID requires defining a new mix of games, the choice of the strategy to be followed is key."

Attracting the player is another challenge, he added, saying it is important to attract those who play the most. Since the number of people is going to be reduced, Padrós made suggestions to optimize the layout due to social distancing.

Later, Dr Jorge Cantuarias, lawyer, spoke about the current situation of the sector, and the tax and legal effects due to the current health emergency.