In 2021 we complete 75 years of the ban on casinos in Brazil. President Eurico Gaspar Dutra's decision would have been motivated by his wife, Carmela, for the preservation of the families. In 1986, 40 years later, Sao Paulo governor João Doria, at the time president of Embratur, defended the permission for the casinos. This time, opposing voices claimed the risk of the growth of organized crime. That is, a certificate of surrender.
In fact, it was during this period when João Doria was president of Embratur that I met him, at an event in favor of the regulation of casinos, held in 1988 at the then Hotel Diplomata, in Florianópolis. At that time, I was superintendent of Sebrae/SC and it was there, more than 40 years ago, that João Doria and I started to share the causes of tourism and developed our friendship.
Santa Catarina (SC) was then one of the states that most influenced in favor of casinos, so much so that the organizer of the event, deputy Dércio Knopp, became known in the country for having presented the bill for the reopening of casino hotels to the National Congress. Two businessmen from Santa Catarina were also active in the front line of this movement: Santos Guglielmi, entrepreneur of the Laguna Tourist Hotel, and Osmar Nunes Filho, of the Hotel Marambaia, in Balneário Camboriú. The two hotels were built with the intention of having casinos integrated into the project.
Over the decades, reality has imposed itself and it is clear how wrong the ban was. Without proselytizing, Brazil had and still has much more serious problems eroding family and social relations and crime is growing in the shadows, including illegal gambling, without the country gaining anything from it.
While Brazil has the company of Cuba and countries of religious fundamentalism among those that ban casinos, the richest nations not only authorize but also charge taxes and investments, which revert to the whole society and not just to those who gamble. Recent examples of efficient licensing management for casinos come from Asia. With billions of dollars invested, Singapore and Macau opened resorts integrated with casinos that receive millions of visitors. Japan has already made its approval. This model, of integrated resorts, is defended by the Government of Sao Paulo.
In the United States, casinos operate in several states. Nevada, where Las Vegas is located, is the most famous and only 25% of the revenue comes from gambling. Most of the revenue is linked to other activities, such as events, conferences, show business, accommodation, restaurants in mega convention centers and large stores. Families go there and everyone has fun.
Closer to home, half of the tourists who go to play in Uruguay are Brazilian. The neighboring country receives around 3.2 million foreigners, meanwhile the whole of Brazil has parked itself in 6 million international tourists.
That could change. The authorization for the implantation of resorts integrated with casinos is under discussion in the National Congress, as in the bill 4,495/20, by senator Irajá Abreu (PSD-TO). It links the operation to an investment far greater than that made in gaming rooms. It includes theme parks, event centers, theaters, luxury hotels and extensive leisure facilities, spas, etc. This interests the development of tourism.
Resorts integrated with casinos should be understood as undertakings that do not exist in Brazil today, made possible by capital that circulates around the world, eager for places where it can be safely invested. Gaming is part, of course, but not the whole.
It is important to discuss the matter with the clarity it deserves. A look at the proposals that have already gone through Brasília makes clear the importance of pointing out that what is fundamental for the development of tourism is not the legalization of jogo do bicho, bingos, betting machines, gaming sites that, by the way, thrive.
Imagine what casinos, in this model proposed above, could represent for Santa Catarina. A sure bet in jobs, income, public revenue and investments.
Vinícius Lummertz
Secretary of Tourism and Travel of the State of Sao Paulo.
Source: Economia SC
