The rapid growth of a decade ago may have slowed across Central America and the Caribbean but what remains is a resilient and healthy gaming scene. Stewart Darkin takes a closer look.
BUILDING a clear picture of any part of the Latin American and Caribbean markets can be something of a challenge. Central America, a subcontinent comprising seven nations – Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama – forms, along with the Caribbean region and Mexico, part of the so-called Latin American market.
The broader Latin American market, including the Caribbean, generated $15.6bn of land-based gambling gross win in 2012, forecast to grow at a CAGR of 3.5 per cent by the end of 2015, rising to €17.4bn (source: H2 Gambling Capital). Those figures include all land-based activities; betting, casino, gaming machines, bingo and lottery. Stripping out those activities leaves an estimated Latin American land-based casino market value of $4.4bn, with a forecast CAGR of 8.1 per cent to 2015 (source: PwC Global Gambling Outlook).
That figure is still distorted by the inclusion of the South America and Mexico markets but the overall trends for the wider region are pertinent. The Latin American market (including the Caribbean) is the world’s smallest, forming around three per cent of the global market and being half the size of the second smallest, Canada. The Latin American casino market is predicted to rise steadily in the next five years, in line with global trends and maintaining its market share.
Read the full article in the June issue of InterGaming.
