Large casinos in Russian gambling zones attracted more than 300 thousand visitors in the summer
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Large casinos in Russian gambling zones attracted more than 300 thousand visitors this summer, an 18% increase year-on-year. Attendance figures have been increasing over the past three years. Market participants attribute the trend primarily to an increase in the variety of activities in casinos. Experts share this opinion, adding that Russians’ interest in gambling could also be spurred by “accumulated stress” and changes in domestic tourist flows.
In June-August, Russian gambling zones were visited by at least 311.8 thousand people, the Association of Entertainment Industry Operators and Sports and Entertainment Events (AIRIS) told Kommersant. The data includes the Krasnaya Polyana zones in Sochi and the Siberian Coin in the Altai Territory, as well as one of the two casinos (Tigre de Cristal) of the Primorye gambling zone in the Primorsky Territory. In the summer months of 2021 and 2022, the total attendance was 226.7 thousand and 264.3 thousand people, respectively.
Residents of the fourth gambling zone, “Yantaraya” in the Kaliningrad region, and the “Shambhala” casino in Primorye did not take part in the association’s survey. Yantannaya Marketing Manager Ildar Magizov and the Shambhala Casino did not respond to Kommersant.
Previously, the association reported that the Russian gambling business paid 1.2 billion rubles. taxes for six months, which is 17% more than for the same period a year earlier. According to ResearchView analysts, in 2022 the legal market for casinos and slot machine halls in Russia exceeded 22 billion rubles, which is 17.9% more than the previous year.
AIRIS Executive Director Dmitry Anfinogenov attributes the increase in attendance to the changes undertaken by residents of gambling zones:
“Russian casinos have expanded their entertainment options, focusing on concerts, shows, business events, sporting events, gastronomy and even wellness treatments.”
The increase in attendance compared to previous years, according to him, can be achieved “with almost the complete absence of foreign tourists.”
Interest in gambling zones is associated with a wider range of activities on their part than before, agrees General Director of Infoline-Analytics Mikhail Burmistrov. However, the expert also admits an increase in interest in gambling itself: “Stress aggravates various types of addictions, including gambling. It can be assumed that its long-term accumulation also contributed to the desire of a number of consumers to visit the casino.” The increase in attendance at gambling zones, especially in Sochi, could also be facilitated by a decrease in interest in holidays in Crimea due to its proximity to the war zone, adds Mr. Burmistrov.
The increase in domestic tourist flow and the expansion of entertainment infrastructure played a big role for the casino, believes Nikolai Oganezov, president of the First SRO of bookmakers.
According to him, positive dynamics are observed throughout the gambling market: “The growth rate has become higher, so both casinos and bookmakers have already surpassed pre-Covid figures. Although, for example, some indicators of a casino in Sochi on income from junket tours (trips at the expense of establishments with an obligation to spend a certain amount of bets.— “Kommersant”) were never able to get closer to the previous level.”
According to Rosstat, 4.7 million people were accommodated in hotels in the Krasnodar Territory in January-July, which is 18.4% lower than the figure for the same period last year. In the Kaliningrad region, the number of guests over seven months increased by 17%, to 420 thousand, in Primorye – by 53%, to 557.9 thousand, in the Altai Territory – by 4.4%, to 495 thousand people.
However, the vice-president of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, Sergei Romashkin, clarifies that the dynamics of tourist trips are not directly related to visits to gambling zones – “they have their own target visitors, different from the classic traveler.”
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