Mexican casinos to make millionaire investments this year

The president of the Association of Licensees, Operators and Providers of the Entertainment and Betting Industry (AIEJA), Miguel Ángel Ochoa Sánchez, assured that, last year, the number of national visitors in those places grew 83%, from 1,200,000 to 2,200,000 between 2001 and last year. He explained that it was due to the increment of almost a 10% in the number of venues, which passed from 318 to 349 in this period.

“For 2013, it is considered that we could reach 3,000,000 visitors, which would be achieved if we see legal certainties in investments by the national government as well as regional and local authorities for the opening of new casinos,” pointed Ochoa Sánchez.

So far, the Association counts with 27 license holders and machine providers, among them, El Palacio de los Números, Cadillac Jack, Comercial Juegos, Atracciones Vallarta and La Frontera, Mega Sport, which, together, represent around 35% of the market. Currently, there are 349 operating venues in the country, with around 90,000 terminals, and 332 expect to obtain the opening autorization.

Ochoa Sánchez anticipated that the growth of the sector will occur mainly in border towns with touristic beaches, on top of small towns where there are few casinos or no casinos at all, such as Campeche, Villahermosa, Morelia, Tampico, Oaxaca and Tlaxcala.