Smoking bans 'hurt casino revenue'
11th February, 2008
Casinos that are forced to comply with smoking bans routinely see their revenue drop, new research from the States has suggested.
Illinois recently passed a new ban on smoking indoors and according to the Illinois Gaming Board that has been the driving factor behind a massive 17.5 per cent drop in revenue recorded by casino gambling institutes across the state.
Gross receipts for the nine operating casinos fell from $159,268,000 (£82 million) in January 2007 to $131,465,000 last month and according to Tom Swoik, executive director of the Illinois Casino Gaming Association, "a majority of the losses" are a direct consequence of the ban.
"People are going outside to smoking shelters, spending less time at [slot] machines or tables," the Lincoln Courier reported him as saying. "Less time on the machines and tables means less revenue."
A similar ban on indoor smoking has been in effect across England since June 2007 and one recent report from Gala Coral suggested the new laws were having a equally dour impact on bingo revenue this side of the Atlantic.
The company blamed the new legislation for playing a role in the forthcoming closure of five of its worst-performing 169 clubs.
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