Inside Asian Gaming

October 2008 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING Eight to Watch casinos entertain 1.5 million guests annually and together with the slot arcades control a 54 percent share of the Slovenian gambling market. HIT also owns two other casinos, one in Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the other in Przno, Montenegro. At various times the company also held interests in casinos in Macedonia and in Curacao and Bonaire in the Netherlands Antilles. A second group of Slovene casinos is controlled by the Portoroz group. Its largest casino facility is on the Adriatic Coast at Portoroz. Other casinos in Slovenia are operated independently. In 2004 a major casino opened in Ljubljana in the Grand Media Hotel. One of the oldest casinos is on the shores of the lake in Bled next to the Park Hotel. There is also a casino in Maribor in the northeast. Collectively the casinos of Slovenia attracted 2.3million visitors in 2007.Of these, 86 percent came from outside the country. The slot halls rely more on local patronage. About 55 percent of their players came from outside Slovenia. Taxes vary according to the status of the casino andwhether the win is at the tables or the machines. All gaming revenue in casinos and slot facilities is subject to an across-the- board 18 percent tax. This tax goes directly to the national treasury. In 2007, the casinos provided € 41.1million in tax from gaming win and the slot halls € 23 million. In addition there is a concession fee. The slot halls each pay a fee of 20 percent of their win. The casinos pay 5 percent of their table win plus 5 to 20 percent of their machine win on a sliding scale. The total of concession fees paid last year was € 57.5 million. The tax on win and the fees amount to an effective tax rate of 32 percent for casinos and 38 percent for slot arcades. The casinos point to the fact that they have a heavier tax burden because their many amenities (hotel rooms, restaurants, show rooms, etc.) pay a value added tax of up to 15 percent both on auxiliary revenues and on construction costs and supplies. The casinos and gaming halls also are important for their communities as sources of employment. More than 3,000 individuals are employed full time in them. What about the frogs? The HIT organization enjoyed considerable success in the earlier years of the new century, and they had a natural itch to expand their many offerings. Their locations spread to other parts of Slovenia, to other Balkan lands, even across the Atlantic to the Caribbean.Then the company began to realize that the richest pickings were right in its own back yard—in Nova Gorica. Here they planned to build their most magnificent gambling palace. From here they could attract players from all over 39