Goa Quickly Becoming the Casino Capital of India
The Goa government has industriously lifted the COVID lockdown curbs on tourism, just in time for peak season. All of this is fantastic news for the local gaming industry that has quickly become the epicenter for gambling activities throughout the nation. People have already given the title of casino capital of India to Goa, and when the tourism numbers pick up to their pre-pandemic levels, the expectation is strongly tipped for Goa to return to these fruitful times.
Goa is a cultural hub in India and remains one of the most iconic cities in the country. Lately, the rise of the gambling business in this country has led many to call it the capital of Indian gambling. ©mirkosajkov/Pixabay
Last week the state officials in charge of public health measures in Goa rolled out a fresh set of pre-cautions guaranteeing the right for casinos to re-open their doors in the major cities. Land-based and river-based casinos attract tens of thousands of international visitors each year, and commerce is seen as a vital foundation to the economic model of the city. The caveat to opening will be that all guests must be vaccinated and/or recovered for COVID.
Casinos in Goa are now allowed to operate with up to 50 percent of their original capacity and will begin to systematically implement safety protocols to ensure that guests are safely complying with the health protocols. These include the use of masks, hand sanitization, thermal screening to check body temperature. All these measures are applied within a vaccination framework, with the combination offering a low-risk factor for the venues to safely open without becoming a fresh infection vector.
The decision to allow the casinos to reopen has been made following the advice and recommendations of medical professionals working in India. Given the infection rate amongst the population has dropped to the low number of 2%, the conditions in the country have now been deemed to be satisfactory for reopening. The enormous upside benefit of allowing the sector to start up again has clearly been too big to ignore.
Goa to Capitalise Popularity in Time for Tourist Season
The reopening of Goa will be a catalyst for the industries that survive off the back of tourism. Operators in Goa including the hotels, restaurants, and transporters will see their businesses pick up incredibly. Especially when the peak of the tourist numbers hits the region towards the end of 2021. Goa is home to six river casinos currently, and there are at least 12 others operating inside the many luxury hotels within the inner realms of the city.
Even before the pandemic reached the highest point of severity, state officials had been promoting gambling as a means to raise the international status of Goa. At home and abroad Goa has begun to be known as the home of gambling. Boosting economic growth in the city is the main priority, and attracting tourists through the allure of gambling appears to be the main mechanism to do that. A recent report commissioned by the local government had the state’s casino footfall already at 15,000 visitors per day, and the trend shows an annual growth rate of 30%. These healthy metrics only add to the motivation to keep the city’s gambling industry moving.
During the pandemic, however, the consumer behavior trends showed a notable shift in India. Within the scope of gambling, customers were opting more for digital platforms to settle their betting requirements. Desi and online roulette players are amongst the biggest consumers of iGaming. Lottery and other casual entertainment games that can be played for money have also picked up in numbers. The bottom line is, land and river-based casinos will have to modernize their product offerings to remain competitive after reopening.
Goa will seek to ride the wave of benefits that come with an increased presence in the gaming sector, during the following months a pivot towards high-revenue and digitalized clients will take favor against the desi-orientated and casual gamblers. As is usually the case in gambling business strategy, maximizing the revenue potential and minimizing the potential for competitors to enter the space will be the mission objective.
State of Goa Offers Perpetual Short-Term License Extensions
Previous political rhetoric within the State Government of Goa had largely been focused on building a case against the casino industry, with the articulation that they were bad for the societal stability of the local area. In recent years though, political parties have shifted their tone away from criticizing the business of gambling and sought to collaborate with them more closely and explore mutually beneficial paths.
The current licensing rules mean the government holds a considerable amount of leverage against the casinos. Operating licenses are sparingly granted, and it remains difficult for an operator to achieve long-term guarantees. Every six months there are a round of renewals that casinos partake in to find out if they can continue operating.
State government leadership has already made moves to try and attempt to move the casino business outside the reaches of the city. It’s not clear exactly how they will achieve this, and up until now there has been very little progress in achieving this, and the whole rhetoric will now be reigned back and reversed. So for now, it seems, Goa will remain the capital of gambling in India.
