David Burt, the Premier of Bermuda, announced that the island will get its first casino in 2021 after the Government passed the Casino Gaming Act several years ago.
Green Light for Casino in Bermuda after 7 Years of Legislation Approval
After a hundred days in office, David Burt, the Premier of Bermuda has announced that the island will have its first casino in 2021. Giving a green light for the casino industry and creating a digital bank in Bermuda as part of the PLP election platform in 2020.
The premier said that the cabinet has an approved plan for the digital bank since last month and that there is a meeting planned about it this week but it will be a longer process.
Brut stated that they want something that will diversify the base ownership. He also said that the banks have been the obstacle for the gambling industry to wait so long after the approval of legislation. They refuse to handle profits from gambling. However, these problems have been overcome, and now that the gambling industry is ready for lift-off, Bermuda may have at least one operational casino as early as this year.
A Casino in Bermuda Must Be Integrated with Resorts
Casino gambling has been outlawed in Bermuda since 2004. It wasn’t allowed even on docked cruise ships. Only betting on horse and dog races, as well as bingo, raffles, and British or American football, was allowed. The Bermuda Casino Bill for authorization of gambling on the island passed with no opposition in 2016.
Now, the law’s requirement in Bermuda for a casino to be able to function is if it is integrated with a resort. There are four resorts eligible for a license. St. George’s resort has a plan for a casino and Hamilton Princess Hotel has a provisional license from the Bermuda Casino Gaming Commission. The hotel’s general manager of developers, Laura Purroy has said that the casino at the hotel depends on the Government’s decision.
According to David Burt’s statement, the casino and the FinTech industry have a lot in common as both are in early development in the country. The gambling industry on the island will include cashless betting, which was approved in 2019. At that time Curtis Dickinson, the finance minister said that the island’s creative solutions are in the hands of the bank institutions.
The Premier of Bermuda concluded that he would like the process to be faster but the current banking system provides challenges mainly for the transaction operations of innovative businesses such as gaming and FinTech.
Meanwhile, Hawaii is also edging closer to setting up its own casino, facing similar obstacles to Bermuda.