The Caribbean is growing in importance as a gaming market. Simon Liddle finds out why.
The Caribbean is as varied and diverse a gaming market as the islands that the region comprises, ranging from small slot lounges to huge integrated resort casinos boasting hundreds of machines. The industry’s major manufacturers recognise both the importance and unique challenges of supplying the discerning operators in the Caribbean, particularly in these tough economic times.
Pavel Blumel of Slovakian manufacturer Evona, which has been supplying electronic roulettes to the region for a number of years, believes that the Caribbean is becoming an increasingly sophisticated marketplace.
"The Caribbean market has grown into a mature market, where only the top equipment is required in casinos," he told InterGaming. "Local operators now are looking for the latest technology available in their machines, which is a positive sign of technological progress. The Caribbean has been slightly affected by the global slowdown in demand as well, so the operators are now more careful in capital investments into new equipment. However, the situation is slowly returning back to normal."
Slots manufacturer WMS offers its full range of gaming systems and products to the market, including its Bluebird gaming cabinet and Bluebird2 platform. While the Bluebird remains popular on local casino floors, the company has seen growing interest in its next-generation cabinet. Sebastian Salat, president of WMS International, shares the view that the Caribbean region has been impacted by the downturn, stating that the region’s market has been "under some pressure" in recent years, largely due to the emphasis placed on tourism within the economy.
He commented: "Given the heavy reliance on tourism in many Caribbean nations and the reduction in the number of people coming to the market from places like the US and Europe, operators have seen a drag on their financial performance, which has, in turn, negatively impacted their ability to spend capital on new gaming machines. However, operators are now starting to see signs of a return to more normalised tourism levels and we would expect to see announcements for new casinos and casino expansions as we move through 2010 to 2011."
Jamaica has this month got the ball rolling by announcing the legalisation of casino gaming as soon as a casino commission is established. It is no surprise that the country is seeking to build new integrated hotel and casino resorts, both for their contribution to tax revenues and tourism. It is estimated that the construction of such large-scale properties will create upwards of 30,000 jobs in Jamaica - something the government clearly found hard to resist.
Gaming Partners International, which supplies an extensive range of table equipment to the region, expects to see the Caribbean gaming market grow significantly in the coming years. The company’s area sales manager, Miguel Gonzalez, told InterGaming that this is likely to be driven by the tourism sector.
"With the recent passing of legislation to legalise casino gaming in Jamaica, we anticipate significant growth in this region," he said. "We also foresee growth due to the growing popularity of poker in the casinos that are looking to expand in order to keep pace with cruise ships and new properties.
"We have seen cruise lines continue to expand their fleets into larger and more technologically-advanced vessels that carry more customers to different destinations and port-of-call casinos at a time. These casinos have all made concentrated efforts to ensure that they continue to offer these customers the same exemplary gaming services, while still maintaining their charming Caribbean feel. They have expanded both the number and type of table games, which have required an increase in both table game personnel and associated equipment."
There are, then, two distinct types of casinos in most Caribbean countries: local and tourist. The size of the properties varies greatly but the type of equipment available to both is evidently of the same quality.
"At the smaller end, we work with gaming lounges that may feature as few as 15-20 slot machines in a relatively small space for a local customer seeking out gaming entertainment," said WMS’ Salat. "At the larger end, WMS has customers that operate luxury resort properties that may have 400 or more slot machines and table games for their players who come to the resort from all over the world."
According to GPI’s Gonzalez, local casinos tend to be located in capital cities and major metropolitan areas of the islands.
"These casinos typically cater to the local population as well as to tourists," he said. "There are also resort casinos that are typically located in the outer regions of the islands and mostly cater to vacationing tourists that seldom leave the premises of the resorts."
Evona, meanwhile, is attempting to capture a new audience with the introduction of new sports betting terminals.
"We will be placing the first few Online Sports and Dog Race betting terminals, BetX, in operations now in Suriname and the Domincan Republic," the company’s Blumel said. "We are hoping for a good response and good future prospect for` these products."
Aruze Gaming America entered the Caribbean gaming market this year and currently has slot machines in Puerto Rico, Aruba and Curacao. The company’s vice president for Latin America, Johan Stoop, told InterGaming the response to its range of products has been "overwhelming" and it now plans to ship elsewhere in the Caribbean and Latin America.
"Casino properties at the country level are largely mixed - from total tourist destinations to local casinos," Stoop said. "Our current challenge is supply and demand. We are experiencing overwhelming orders throughout the Caribbean and Latin America."
Aruze offers an array of product for the Caribbean region, including high-resolution video and stepper slot machines, community gaming products and multi-terminal devices. The company is also planning to debut its Rock You Queen G-Deluxe game this summer.
"With our dual high-resolution monitors, the superior 3D animated visuals leap off the screen," Stoop continued. "This integrated sensory experience will immerse players in an adrenalin-charged playing atmosphere. Aruze also offers the operators several different game volatilities to ensure all demographics will be entertained."
One of the most significant challenges for manufacturers seeking to supply the Caribbean market is the availability of used machines. WMS’ Salat explained: "We find that our biggest challenge in the Caribbean is essentially competing against ourselves for sales.
"As is the case in many less developed regions around the world, there is a thriving marketplace featuring vendors who offer second-hand slot machines. This is a significant challenge we face and typically work to provide the value-added services to prospective customers to ensure we gain our fair share of the market."
Aware of the cost-sensitive nature of the region’s operators, GPI is already taking steps to ensure that its products are not overlooked in favour of inexpensive - and often inferior - second-hand products.
"As we expand our range of product offerings in this region, we are also offering special bundled pricing to our customers who choose to purchase multiple GPI table game products," said the company’s Gonzalez. "These products include gaming tables and furniture, casino chips and plaques, dice, cards, layouts and accessories, as well as a variety of RFID security and operational applications for casinos."
With the growth in popularity of poker, the company is keen to promote its latest RFID-enabled poker equipment, intended to improve accuracy and increase the speed of various actions on the poker table.
Just like Latin America, the Caribbean is considered by most to be one of the fastest-growing gaming markets. The rewards for those supplying local operators are obvious, as is the potential for future growth with the legalisation of casinos in new jurisdictions and the investment being made in additional tourism resorts.
"We believe the Caribbean market has the potential for significant growth going forward and we are working to position ourselves to benefit from this growth," said Salat of WMS. "The growth that will come will primarily be driven by a return to normalised levels of tourism, which will give the operators and their investors the comfort they need to move forward with new or expansion projects."
