“Our demand for ’22 through ’27 convention is unbelievable. Our customers want to come, and we remain very bullish on the return of Las Vegas. It may take longer than we want it to.”
—Rob Goldstein, CEO, Las Vegas Sands Corp., who says the Vegas market has “plenty of gas in the tank”
“We’re all in furious agreement that banks should not allow customers to use credit cards to gamble on the internet. From a social justice perspective, people shouldn’t be in a situation where they can borrow money from the banks at 22 percent interest and gamble with it.”
—Andrew Wallace, Queensland MP, who says Australia should ban credit card use for iGaming. He added that “eight out of 10 Australians are on my side”
“Let’s not waste time with a process. We know there’s interest. Let’s have a process that’s time-constricted and we can recognize the revenue this year.”
—Joseph Addabbo, New York state senator, on a plan in the legislature to fast-track the licensing of three casinos in New York City
“The transformation has been from, ‘Society is aging and therefore we need an IR to drive economic growth,’ to ‘Corona had a big impact and therefore we need an IR to drive economic growth.’”
—Michael Penn, Asia Gaming Brief columnist, on the hype around casino resorts coming to Japan
“There is precedent of online casinos being run in Japan, then busted and tried in court.”
—Hachiro Okonogi, chairman, Japan’s National Public Safety Commission, who says iGaming is not part of a plan to introduce legal casinos in the country
“Summer travelers plan to drive. For some, it might be the accessibility of their destination; for others, it might be the desire to avoid the crowds associated with flying … Either way, Americans are inspired to travel in new ways—and that may be here to stay.”
—TripIt travel app, on a poll that indicates Americans will travel this summer, but behind the wheel. TripIt anticipates a return to air travel in the fall
“We are left lying in the gutter, and leisure has been closed for a year. … You cannot keep this industry closed and without a plan to reopen. It could cause irreparable damage to our industry.”
—Federation of Leisure, Tourism & Gambling of Valencia, Spain, on the continuing shutdown of gaming venues in the region
