Bermuda officials say casinos will bring 43,000 new tourists a year, mainly from the Eastern United States, to the vacation island.
The estimate came from Tourism Minister Shawn Crockwell, who has launched a vigorous public campaign for legalization that will take him to six town hall-style meetings.
“We have an opportunity to try and entice people to come to Bermuda instead of going to the Bahamas,” he told a packed house at the first of the meetings.
“Right now people see Bermuda as an unexciting place — we need to change that,” he said.
He said seven developers have expressed interest in an old Club Med site he described as ideal for a resort-scale casino.
“We need to get some global brands to Bermuda—high end brands — if we want to be competitive,” Crockwell said. “We believe that with the integrated resort model, that would be the closest to get hotel development, bring in a quality brand and revitalizing tourism.”
A casino on that scale would generate $50 million its first year, increasing to $60 million by Year 3, and would provide more than 1,100 construction jobs and employ another 900 once it’s up and running.
He mentioned a tax rate on gaming revenue of 10 percent, bolstered by hotel and payroll taxes. The domestic population over 21 would be allowed to participate but will likely pay an entry fee similar to the system in place in Singapore, which Crockwell cited as a model for regulating and limiting local participation.
In all, the government is seeking support for a maximum of three gaming licenses.
“The financial data that we have received suggests that, based on the current tourism numbers that we have and the resident population—and its estimated that between 10 and 15 percent of the resident population will participate—we can sustain financially three casinos,” he said.
