Bermuda casino plans in doubt
Owners of the resort are reportedly unable to confirm whether the St Regis Hotel casino project will go ahead.
Bermuda.- The future of plans to build a casino at the St Regis Hotel in Bermuda appears to be in doubt, with the owners of the resort reportedly unable to confirm if the project remains alive. An end to the project would be another blow to the government’s economic objective of establishing a gambling sector.
Another plan to create a casino in Bermuda at Hamilton Princess & Beach Club fell through in January when Century Casinos backed out. The St Regis, in St George’s, has already been granted a casino licence – the first to be issued by the Bermuda Gaming Commission. However, there has been no more news about the project since emergency talks in January after the Hamilton project was put on hold.
Local newspaper The Royal Gazette says Hotelco, the company that owns the St Regis Hotel, declined to comment when asked if it had abandoned its casino plans. The Bermuda Gaming Commission did not respond to requests for clarification either.
The Bermuda government had identified the creation of a casino sector as one of four priorities for the territory’s economic recovery. The premier David Burt made has made it a signature policy, introducing major changes to gambling legislation to relax controls over the type of casino permitted, allowing the BGC to consider more proposals from potential operators.
However, the Royal Gazette reports that foreign investors have been put off by the regulator’s perceived lack of independence. Gaming has been put under the remit of the Ministry of Finance, which is led by Burt himself, rather than by an appointed minister.
The Royal Gazette quoted an industry insider as saying: “The number one obstacle to attracting foreign interest in casinos on the island is that the Premier and Minister of Finance are the same person and have influence over the BGC.”
Failure of the Hamilton Princess & Beach Club casino project
In January, Century Casinos dropped out of plans to develop a casino at the Hamilton Princess & Beach Club after eight years of planning. Peter Hoetzinger, the company’s president and chief executive, said he could not foresee the project being completed in a reasonable timeframe under the existing legislative framework.
The hotel itself put its search for a new operator on hold while it awaits “a clearer road map from the Bermuda Casino Gaming Commission on a viable path forward to seeing a casino open its doors”. The project had been expected to create 100 jobs.
The other three pillars of the government’s economic hopes: vertical farming, the Tynes Bay waste plant and the regeneration of North East Hamilton have not been making good progress either, with an investor having pulled out for the former.
Burt held emergency talks with the St Regis in January after the cancellation of the Hamilton casino project. After that meeting, he said: “I continue to be impressed by the commitment of St Regis to introducing a casino at the hotel and our discussion examined legislative and practical ways to achieve that shared goal.
“The idle and irresponsible media speculation around gaming has failed to change the owner’s positive outlook for a casino at the property. It is ridiculous to suggest that the government has not invested time and effort into achieving gaming for Bermuda.
“We have met with banks, worked with hoteliers, responding positively to the economic realities of the pandemic, compounded by the delays in gaming licensing, and conferred with the commission’s executive team on striking the necessary balance between encouraging gaming and doing so with an appropriate regulatory regime.
“In all this we have been determined to understand and act on issues that have delayed gaming for Bermuda. With the renewed commitment to a casino we heard from St Regis and their casino operator, those efforts will continue as we collaborate with all parties to deliver on this economic imperative for Bermuda.”
See also: Bermudan senate OKs law to ban MPs from Casino Gaming Commission
