French Casinos Ready to Reopen on Dec 15 to Support Economy

Industry trade union Casinos de France has announced in a press release that the industry is ready to restart operation on December 15.

Casinos in France Ready to Restart on December 15

Trade union Casinos de France has released a press release on Thursday, arguing that following the recommendations of French Prime Minister Jean Castex and President Emmanuel Macron the casino and entertainment industries feel confident that they can restart business on December 15 and continue working throughout the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

In the release, the trade union argued that reopening of cultural and entertainment venues is essential for the well-being of citizens and the economic activity associated with such businesses across numerous regions and cities in France.

While openings are needed, they must all be done in compliance with government and health authorities issued health and safety measures, the trade union said. Across the English Channel, the United Kingdom is also preparing to end lockdown and replace it with a phased approach towards what businesses and where may resume.

French Casinos Ready to Play Ball with Government

The Casinos de France trade union, the press statement said, worked in this direction in order to make it possible for casino and gaming venues to reopen while upholding all government measures.

When covid-19 first struck, gaming venues were among the first to take all necessary health and safety precautions, starting as early as June 2. These measures included but weren’t limited to frequent disinfection of high-traffic areas, plexiglass separators to protect consumers, and obligatory mask wearing, among others.

All of these controls are implemented as part of the strict framework issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs today. With these safety protocols in place, casinos leave no room for contamination on their gaming floors, the statement says.

Ready to Go Even Further in Protecting Consumers

In the official statement, the trade union said that it’s willing to go even further in ensuring consumer protection. This includes controlled entry points into the casino as well as reduced capacity of how many people can be allowed on the casino floors at one time. 

Casinos are willing to guarantee the traceability of individual patrons should an infection occur, which they vehemently say is not likely, as well as sticking to enhanced sanitization protocols and promoting awareness campaigns, such as ‘TousAntiCovid’ or ‘All Against Covid’ as well as temperature checks.

Casino Reopenings Are Necessary

In its statement, Casinos de France insists that reopening casino businesses is a necessity, citing the impact the industry has on the economy. The industry is employing 15,000 people directly and another 45,000 indirectly. Some €1.4 billion is paid in taxes to the government every year with €400 million collected directly by municipalities.

Not least, the trade union noted that due to the recent shut downs, consumers have turned to illegal casino websites which have proliferated in the absence of legitimate gaming products. At the same time, online gambling has skyrocketed during the third quarter, the French National Gaming Authority (ANJ).

Such online websites have no consumer protection measures in place nor do they try to restrict addictive practices. Another matter with illegal websites is they do not conduct anti-money laundering (AML) practices and often serve as a conduit of criminal activities.

Allowing these operations to continue undermines Casinos de France’s efforts to counterweigh such practices, which it has been doing to do so for years working closely with the relevant authorities.