Holland Casino names Petra de Ruiter as new CEO
Petra de Ruiter will replace Erwin van Lambaart as CEO of the Dutch casino brand.
The Netherlands.- The Dutch state-controlled casino brand Holland Casino has named Petra de Ruiter as its new CEO. She will replace Erwin van Lambaart, who announced his departure last month to take up the CEO position at Casinos Austria.
De Ruiter is currently chief operating officer at aviation group Transavia, where she is responsible for business operations. She has also worked in roles at Air France-KLM.
She will take up her new position at Holland Casino in September assuming she passes the background checks. There she will work with chief financial officer Ruud Bergervoet and chief operating officer Malinda Miener.
She said: “Hospitality is in the DNA of all employees at Holland Casino, a crucial and differentiating value, which is also vital in my current job. Whether online or offline, every guest simply wants to feel seen, heard and valued. Holland Casino is a cordial, responsible and leading entertainment company with 3,500 employees who want the best for all guests every day.
“I look forward to personally getting to know many new colleagues from the venues and from the online casino business – after all, they are the face of our company. I am grateful to Transavia and all colleagues for the past years. At the same time, I am also very much looking forward to this new role and this great challenge.”
Willem Bröcker, chairman of Holland Casino’s supervisory board, said: “With our 14 locations and now an online [offering], we work in a highly regulated sector and operate in a complex stakeholder field. Proven expertise is of great importance.”
The European Casino Association (ECA) announced that Holland Casino’s vice president of gaming and services Pieter Boers will join its board to replace Erwin van Lambaart as the board’s representative for The Netherlands. Meanwhile, Holland Casino has promoted Malinda Miener to the position of chief compliance officer.
Holland Casino has reported full-year revenue of €304.2m for 2021. That’s a drop of 8.7 per cent year-on-year. Online gaming, which Holland Casino began offering on the launch of the Netherlands’ regulated market on October 2, generated €40.4m but that wasn’t enough to make up for the decline in land-based casino revenue caused by Covid-19 restrictions.
Holland Casino’s land-based venues were closed for 168 days in 2021 due to pandemic countermeasures and faced further restrictions through the rest of the year.
Land-based slot machines generated just over half of all Holland Casino’s revenue at €152.4m, down 18 per cent year-on-year. Table game revenue fell 25.5 per cent to €94.1m. Tips accounted for €8.2m, a drop of 23.4 per cent, food and beverage revenue €7.9m, down 25.6 per cent, and other revenue €1.2m, down 28.2 per cent.
