Wales announced the reopening of its casinos from the 29th August, stressing on the importance of social distancing and other precautions in the midst of the novel COVID-19 pandemic

The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) applauds the decision of the Welsh Government to give casinos the green light to re-open and hails it as “the right move”. As usual, casinos will need to adhere to strict rules when it comes to social distancing and public safety. 

Mark Drakeford, Wales’s First Minister, explained that the venues will be able to get back to business from 29th August. Wales has four casinos employing around 300 people. Casinos in England have been open for two weeks already as the government had finally given the green light on August 15th after several previous U-turns.

Nicola Sturgeon from Scotland also confirmed that Scottish casinos will open their doors again on the 24th of August. Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland had provided their own lockdown easing directives independent from England. 

The UK’s 125 casinos employ 14,000 people and were contributing around ￡300m a year in tax to the Treasury before the Covid-19 lockdown. The venues have introduced a range of measures to ensure the safety of returning staff and customers which include Perspex screens, sophisticated track and trace systems and strict social distancing rules. 

Betting and Gaming Council chief executive Michael Dugher said: “I warmly welcome this announcement by Mark Drakeford, which is the right move and a tremendous boost for the hundreds of men and women who work in Welsh casinos, as well as their customers. The Welsh Government has listened to the concerns of our members and responded to the tremendous efforts they have made to ensure they can re-open safely. It’s great news that casinos across Great Britain are now able to open their doors and make a vital contribution to the country’s economic recovery.” 

SiGMA Americas:

Following the successful launch of SiGMA Europe (Malta) and SiGMA Asia (Manila), we’re now launching the inaugural SiGMA AMERICAS, covering all three major timezones. The inaugural edition is set for September 22-24, 2020 with a virtual summit focusing on two themes: SiGMA AMERICAS for the Gaming industry and AIBC AMERICAS for the Emerging Tech industry. We wanted to provide fresh content, to help you navigate through these turbulent times. If you’re exploring Americas as a new frontier or wondering which tech solutions to embrace, we’ve got you covered: tune in on September 22-24, 2020.