Renato Almeida, Director of FBM: "Last year, when the pandemic started in February, we did not think it would last for such a long period. It was a very bad situation for the industry, especially for traditional casinos, which face a very strong closure, with restrictions in several countries. It is a very complicated situation. Perhaps in the last quarter we can start a recovery. The land-based is very affected because we have many elderly people, and there are many customers afraid of being in the room. In all countries we are facing openings and closings. As long as we do not have a real advance in vaccination this will not improve ", and adds:" We have a very slow vaccination in all countries of the world. There are no vaccines for all And that is a problem ".

On the other hand, he affirms that in the online sector it has had a fairly large base due to the pandemic, and he believes that this will continue. "Maybe we have something hybrid, a mix of online with land-based, which can help traditional casinos a lot, but I think this is not going to come back. The Malta license that came out recently, and thinking about investing as well on the hybrid theme."

Sebastián Salat, CEO of Zitro, also highlighted the issue of vaccination and the logistical challenge faced by all countries to vaccinate their population. "In Spain, for September, October, it is expected that 70% of the population will be vaccinated, and then we can reasonably face the recovery of the economy and the gaming industry. The sector has been very hit, with economic uncertainty such as we have never experienced. We must take into account what the WHO has called "pandemic fatigue" in the population, due to the restrictions that are experienced. In the cities where casinos have been opened, for example, people have returned to attend, although not in the same amount prior to the pandemic, because they have had to open with limited capacity. But it is clear that customers, consumers, want to return to the life we ​​had. In my opinion, when everything this happens, customers will return to the casinos. It is also true that this pandemic has left us a population much more accustomed to the use of new technologies and social networks. "

Elizabeth Leiva emphasized the drastic change that has taken place in the industry. "I would like to see a region already consolidated from the regulatory point of view on the subject of online gambling and not leave the physical casino behind, which is where we all started."

Emilio Quirós, Director of Operations, Big Bola Casinos, speaks from his perspective in Mexico. He says that uncertainty was one of the biggest challenges to face. "We we didn't know how long the closures would last, and if we did open, what that opening would be like." Then he added that the most important thing for casinos is to have flexibility in the face of the restrictions imposed by the authority. For example, the number of hours it can be open and when. In that case, you have to quickly adapt the template and generate the most appropriate game offer for the public that attends that time and not at dawn, for example. "All of these are decisions that must be made quickly, in an agile, safe and correct way." Then he added: "Basically it is having that capacity for diversification, having that ability to respond quickly and having flexibility in the fast and agile operation. I think that allowed us to be where we are now, back, and managing to get ahead of this."

Fabián Giame, General Manager Enjoy Viña del Mar: "The way customers have responded to openings leaves us calm. In our case, we had an opening in October-November, we stayed open for 40 days and in December we had to go back to We closed and we reopened at the end of February and we closed again in mid-March. This affected us a lot, since the protocols imposed have been very strict. "

In those stages they were able to open slots in open spaces, and not tables. He also said that clients have adapted well to the protocols. There has also been a time restriction. Regarding online gambling, he believes that it is a very important tool that will continue to grow in the future. He agrees with the other speakers that it will be necessary to adapt to the functioning of online with traditional gambling, and says that in Chile online gambling is not regulated yet, and asks regulatory bodies to advance on this issue.