The introduction of online gaming in Spain doesn’t necessarily mean the land-based casino sector will suffer, a major operator has claimed.

Grup Peralada has three land-based casinos in Catalonia – Barcelona, Peralada and Tarragona. Following the government’s decision to press ahead with the regulation of online gaming last year, the company has also applied for an online gaming licence.

Spain continues to struggle to overcome the economic difficulty that has plagued the eurozone and is on the brink of recession once more. In light of this, the country’s casino sector has experienced a general decline in revenues in recent years, but Javier Picola, Grup Peralada’s general manager, does not believe it is inevitable that the industry will struggle in the face of legal online gaming.

“No doubt online gaming will mark a ‘before and after’ period for our industry, just as it has been for many sectors,” he told InterGaming. “This does not mean necessarily to the detriment of the land-based gaming industry but, on the contrary, we think this new channel can provide us with new possibilities and will force us to add value in the land-based casinos to our customers.

“The secret of a successful business will be in the integration of the online and offline.”

A full interview with Javier Picola, general manager of Grup Peralada, will appear in the April issue of InterGaming.