Bahamas News

Gaming in The Bahamas is poised for an expansion, according to Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe who referred to a number of new proposals on the drawing board.

Mr. Wilchcombe, who has Cabinet responsibility for gaming, told the Bahama Journal that the government is actively trying to assist hotel developers with what the he called “the amenity of gaming,” but within limits.

The minister said that The Bahamas has been “progressively moving” in gaming, pointing to the fairly recent introduction of sports betting – which he said has been going “quite well.”

He also indicated that an expansion in the gaming offerings available within The Bahamas is soon to come.

“Atlantis has new proposals they are discussing with us right now, and you’re going to continuously receive applications. For instance, in Grand Bahama we have Fortuna seeking a casino license,” he disclosed.

“So every day there are new groups looking for new opportunities because gaming is a big attraction. But you know, in The Bahamas it has been more of an amenity than an industry, and that is the question we have to grapple with as we move forward.”

There are concerns about the legislative environment. Mr. Wilchcombe acknowledged the worries about the regulatory regime that would ensure that no laws are broken.

“Of course, whatever we do is always with limitations because (you must answer such questions as) how are you going to manage it, how are you going to monitor what is going on? So yes, we are aware that there are requests coming in almost every day for different forms of gaming by the hotel establishments,” he said.

“And we’re certainly looking at them,” he added.

He said even some of the more developed societies are still having to grapple with difficulties of monitoring legislation and ensuring the enforcement of whatever regulatory laws exist in a particular jurisdiction.

“We are not as advanced, but certainly we’ve been working with our advisors in London to determine how far we can move now, and what we have to do progressively to get to the stage where we can offer some of the new attractions to the amenities that we do have in The Bahamas,” Mr. Wilchcombe said.

The minister said the government is aware of circumstances in which laws may be infringed by players the gaming industry, though he would not cite specific instances.

“But each time that we become aware, what we do is we ask the Gaming Board to pay closer attention to what is going on. Our first obligation is to make sure that the hotel establishments that are participating in gaming are fulfilling their obligations and they are maintaining their high standards. That’s the expectation of our jurisdiction,” Mr. Wilchcombe said.

“So, to that extent we’ve had no difficulties. But of course we know that there is always someone trying something new.”

Looking at the competition, Mr. Wilchcombe pointed out that Macao outperformed Las Vegas in earnings last year, and has moved into the more modern gaming industry.

“It just tells you,” Mr. Wilchcombe said, “as long as we’re in the tourism industry, we have an obligation to maintain our progressive thinking and we cannot shun our minds from any new thoughts that are being considered.”

“And so on each occasion, we have to look at them and see how we proceed.”

He said there was a paper on his desk “right now” that speaks to moving the gaming sector of The Bahamas’ tourism product from “an amenity” to “an industry,” but since he hasn’t discussed it with the London consultants it hasn’t made it to Cabinet for discussion yet.