At the occasion, it will also be defended the need for urgency to vote on the modernization project of Embratur, which has also been
under way since last year and foresees the transformation of the institute into an agency. "Both projects are of fundamental importance to move tourism, the national economy and the states," summarizes the Secretary of Tourism,
Sport and Culture of Santa Catarina, Leonel Pavan, vice president of Institutional Relations of
Fornatur and one of the coordinators of the mobilization.
Under current bills passed
in Congress, casinos, if approved, can only operate in tourist complexes that contain, in addition to the gaming space, luxury hotel, shopping mall, restaurants, entertainment areas, convention center and other areas of recreation. They would also be limited to the number of inhabitants. So far, what has been predicted is that states with up to 15 million inhabitants may have a casino. Those with a population between 15 and 25 million could have up to two, is the case of Minas,
Rio and Bahia; and São Paulo, which has more than 25 million, could have up to three.
The government estimates that the Union fails to raise R$37 billion (US$ 11.7b) a year with the non-legalization of the activity and that the illegal gambling market today circulates about R$20 billion (US$ 6.35b), much more than the official
gamings in the country, something around R$ 12 billion (US$ 3.8b). Also for the projects in process, part of the collection with the activity would be destined to social assistance funds, in addition to tourism.
Source: GMB / Diário Catarinense
