Minister of Tourism, Celso Sabino, has advocated for the legalization of casinos in Brazil at a seminar.
“As with any major economic activity that will mobilize significant investments, we will have job creation already in the implementation phase and during execution. Our perspective is to generate around 600,000 to 1 million direct and indirect jobs when all integrated resorts are fully operational,” Sabino said.
Sabino’s remarks were made during a seminar organized by Editora Globo with the support of the government of the State of Rio de Janeiro. Sabino discussed the project alongside Senator Irajá, the rapporteur of the bill, and industry representatives.
According to the minister, the idea is for each state with up to ten million inhabitants to have at least one large integrated resort. More populous states, such as São Paulo, could have up to three establishments with casinos.
The minister highlighted international interest in the Brazilian market, citing Hard Rock Cafe as one of the sector’s players injecting billions into the construction of tourist complexes.
“They build hotels with theatres, convention centres, shopping malls, thousands of apartments, and casino areas. Just at the opening of such a project, they usually bring the biggest globally renowned artists to perform,” said the minister, citing recent shows in Brazil as examples of the potential to attract audiences.
“I think Taylor Swift performed in two states. You saw the crowd trying to get into her show. The same happened with Madonna’s concert. These groups will not just exploit the casino. They will create a 1 billion, 2 billion dollar enterprise. They will bring these artists to perform,” he said.
Sabino also highlighted the positive prospects in terms of job creation and tax revenue with the regulation of casinos. According to him, the granting of licenses for casinos is expected to generate the Contribution for Economic Domain Intervention (Cide-Jogos) tax revenue of around R$ 22 billion.
“Brazil cannot continue to have such an unfavourable environment, but it also cannot bring in regulations in such a reckless manner. England has it, but the vast majority of countries have not taken this care with the prevention and treatment of gambling addiction among bettors,” he said.