Return of casinos in 2021-2023. at resorts and hotels (Venezuela)

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1) From zeros to restart: How it started

After the 2011 ban, the offline market remained frozen for almost a decade. The turn was outlined in January 2020: the president announced plans for an international casino in the capital's Hotel Humboldt with settlements in the state cryptocurrency Petro (PTR) and the declared targeted use of income for the social sphere - a symbolic prologue to the "reactivation" of the industry.

Already on September 2-3, 2021, the government confirmed the course towards the return of casinos and authorization of about 30 sites across the country - in fact, it was a systemic "start" after a ten-year downtime.

2) Why hotels and resorts

The legal framework of Venezuela was originally sharpened under the model of "casino as part of the tourist infrastructure": the law "Ley para el Control de los Casinos, Salas de Bingo y Máquinas Traganíqueles" (1997) and the regulations determine the permit regime and the binding of objects to tourist areas/complexes. Therefore, the restart went through hotel locations and resort points.

3) Cases 2021-2023: first discoveries and anchors in hotels

Maracay (Aragua state): Casino Ciudad Jardín opened on August 31, 2021 in the Hotel Pipo Internacional complex - one of the first sites of the new wave, immediately positioned as part of the local tourist product (congress and event tourism).

Caracas and major cities: industry reports pointed to a list of sites in hotels and business areas (including Tamanaco, Eurobuilding, hotels and halls in Miranda, Nueva Esparta, Lara, etc.) being prepared for restart - hotel + casino logic has become the dominant form of return.

💡 Practical effect for hotels: casinos increase the number of rooms, lengthen the average length of stay and raise revenue in the F & B/event segment - which is why the first releases took place where there is already a "ready" tourist infrastructure. (See Pipo/Maracay launch media and industry restart digests.)

4) On-wire control: interconnection (interconnexión)

Simultaneously with the permits, the authorities announced the introduction of an interconnection system - online monitoring of gaming equipment in real time. The Casino Commission (CNC) directed licensees to connect the machines to a centralized control and monitoring system. This is a key element in the "whitewashing" of the process after the restart.

5) What happened in 2022-2023: cautious normalization

In 2022-2023, industry and business media described the gradual "embedding" of casinos in the urban economy: new sites were opened primarily where there is dollarized demand and hotel infrastructure; some historical sites (for example, Maruma Hotel & Casino in Maracaibo) continued to appear on professional lists as landmarks of the "hotel & casino" territory.

6) What it means for tourism and local economies

Tourist multiplier. Hotel casinos create traffic for MICE/events, increase the average check and stimulate employment in the hotel and restaurant sector - a logic that the authorities directly associate with the task of "attracting foreign exchange earnings" after the crisis.

Controllability. CNC interconnection and centralized instructions increase transparency and allow the combination of point resolution with machine revenue/turnover monitoring.

7) Risks and limitations

Fragmentation online. Returns concern land-based casinos; a single federal "digital" framework for online games in Venezuela has not been formalized - this limits the synergy of "online ↔ offline" in the tourist product. (Context by Market and Practice 2021-2025).

Investment climate and operating costs. Demand fluctuations and infrastructure risks require reliance on stable hotel anchors and clear regulator control (interconnection instructions).

In 2021-2023, Venezuela returned the casino through the hotel and resort circuit: after the announcement of Hotel Humboldt/Petro (2020), a package ~ 30 permits and the launch of the first sites at hotels followed (a vivid example is Casino Ciudad Jardín/Hotel Pipo in Maracay). In conjunction with this, technical monitoring (interconnection) was launched, which legitimizes the industry in the eyes of the state and society. Such a "tourist" model of return made it possible to quickly connect the finished infrastructure and show the economic effect, although the digital segment still requires a separate, transparent framework.