THAG unconvinced about casino bill's promised impact on tourism
Kaieteur News
January 24, 2007
The Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) it is not convinced that the passage of the Gambling Prevention (Amendment) Bill will result in improvements to the sector as is being touted by government.
According to President of THAG, Kathy Hughes, this is because the organisation is yet to receive a position paper or any other document outlining the proposed benefits to be derived or the strategic plans and methods of implementation.
The organisation has also never been invited to any consultations on the issue, a fact which Hughes finds disconcerting given the importance of THAG to the sector.
In the wake of the passage of the Bill, Hughes said she has requested a copy of the piece of legislation which the entity will study more closely.
Commenting on the assurances given by the President and other government functionaries that the new legislation will significantly improve the tourism sector, Hughes lamented the fact that government has not made public the evidence base for its utterances.
“ Up to now government has not provided any evidence that shows that visitor arrivals will increase as a result of the introduction of casino gambling.”
Speaking with this newspaper, the THAG official noted that the organisation managed to attract more than 120,000 visitors to the country without the introduction of this activity and based only on the tourism product available.
She also believes that government's rationale behind the criteria set for the establishment of the casinos should be made public.
“What's the rationale behind allowing only three casinos in each administrative region? Where is the evidence that proves that three gaming places will be less of a threat than four? How did they arrive at this specific number? What's the rationale behind allowing only 150 rooms… and for new hotels only… and prohibiting locals, when Guyanese go all over the world including neighbouring Suriname and participate in gambling activities.” If an existing hotel is expanded to 150 rooms, will the proprietors be allowed a license to facilitate gambling? I think the public needs to know that government did not just pull these ideas out of the air but that it is actually based on comprehensive surveys and this source should be revealed.”
Hughes is also unconvinced that the mechanisms being put in place will effectively curb the societal ills that could be amplified through the introduction of casino gambling in Guyana .
Meanwhile, giving her personal position, the THAG official related that if invited she would not be keen on getting involved in any discussions on the monitoring of the system.
“What would be the point of sitting and having discussions now when the bill has already been passed? Our input was obviously not important to the government when the bill was being crafted so I cannot see that our contribution would be needed now. I would find it a little disconcerting that we weren't invited at the inception but would be called now,”Hughes said.