Relicensing arcades: a major talking point.
THE Schaarste vergunningen has become a two-edged sword in the Dutch arcade-casino market. On the one hand, it breathes fresh life into a venue’s licence to operate but, on the other, it is divisive to a tight-knit industry and threatens return on investment. Simply translated, Schaarste vergunningen means “scarcity of licences” and is a catchphrase to sum up a Dutch problem.
The relicensing of arcades – the Netherlands officially has 276, although the numbers float marginally up or down – has become one of the talking points of the Dutch industry in the past year. At one time, a man had an arcade licence in a town for five years or even longer, and reasonably expected that if he kept his nose clean then it would be renewed by the local authority.
