Legislation
Brazil – Brazil’s Tourism Committee looks for support for gaming laws
By Phil - 19 July 2019
Members of the Tourism Committee of Deputies met on Thursday, July 11, with the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Rodrigo Maia, to ask him to give priority to projects that seek to encourage the sector and expedite their voting and debate in full.
“As World Tourism Day is commemorated on September 27, we think that this will be an ideal week to concretize our efforts, so I request support for the inclusion of bills related to tourism for the plenary agenda of the Chamber and its deliberation, “explained the president of the Commission, Newton Cardoso Jr.
The list includes a series of tax exemptions for the tourism industry, changes to the Brazilian Institute of Tourism (Embratur) and the legalization of gaming (specifically bills PL 3234/2019 and PL 8972/2017).
Rodrigo Maia, who has been a long time supporter of legalising casinos in Brazil in order to improve tourism, promised to make an effort to analyze the initiatives on September 27, coinciding with the celebration of World Tourism Day. The purpose of the United Nations World Tourism Day is to foster awareness among the international community of the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political and economic value.
Momentum is still growing for an expansion of the industry. In June author of gambling bill PLS 186/2014 and President of the of the Progressive Party, Senator Ciro Nogueira met with Economy Minister Paulo Guedes to request government support for his proposal to legalise gambling in Brazil.
It was the first time that Guedes held a meeting on the issue since Jair Bolsonaro became president. In the almost one-hour meeting, Nogueira outlined data revealing that illegal gambling generates almost R$20bn (US$ 5.2bn) illegally every year. “Our goal is that the population can at least get the benefits of this practice,’ said the senator who has been a key player in developing gaming laws over recent years. The senator a told the Minister of Economy that a regulated industry could lead to more than 600 thousand direct jobs. According to the senator, 20 million Brazilians bet daily only on the local popular street lottery ‘jogo do bicho’ or ‘animal game. ’
