Operator News
France – Independent French casinos reporting similar business to last year over summer months
By Phil - 12 October 2020
The Association of French Independent Casinos has revealed that business over the summer season was comparable to that of last year despite the Covid-19 restrictions put in place.
Luc Le Borgne, President of ACIF, said: “Since the reopening of the casinos on June 2 and until September 22, we are on a level equivalent to last year.”
From mid-March to early June, revenues were down 22 per cent.
However, Mr. Le Borgne explained: “After a very good month of June, July was a little less good, August even worse, but September good. Customers were sensitive to the rigorous health protocol developed by the association and implemented by independent establishments, with the presence of multiple bottles of hydroalcoholic gel where cleaning of the keyboards of slot machines after the departure of a player, with a label indicating it. Without forgetting social distancing with a new distribution of the slot machine park in each of the casinos, opening up new spaces when possible. All establishments continued to operate their entire fleet and no case of an employee of an ACIF casino, or of a customer having contracted Covid-19 has been reported.”
Mr. Le Borgne, who is also President of Vikings Casinos, said the group will send an email to 50,000 customers to get their feedback on the measures taken to ensure this social distancing and their wishes for the future.
After a start to the year which froze any development in the sector, ACIF now intends to resume ‘constructive discussions with the Ministry of the Interior and the DLPAJ.’ Mr. Le Borgne cited the report requested by the President of the Republic and submitted to the Minister of the Interior on the future of casinos, which has still not been made public. The association wants to bring La Boule back to French casinos. Recalling that in 1981, out of the 135 existing casinos, three-quarters operated this table game, while today La Boule has often been replaced by blackjack, the President of the ACIF wants to see the a return of the game which symbolised French casinos at that time.
The ACIF, which will hold its next annual general meeting in March 2021, has registered six new memberships; Boulogne sur Mer, Chamonix, Megève, Capvern les Bains, Grasse and Lectour, bringing its number of members to 50, meaning it now represents a quarter of French casinos.
The battle to control Covid-19 in France has seen gaming floors in the Aix en Provence casino closed, as well as those in Guadeloupe.
Whilst other establishments in Bouches-du-Rhône remain open, the Partouche group’s Aix-en-Provence casino temporarily closed its doors on September 27 at midnight, following the decision of the prefect of Bouches-du-Rhône, as part of the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
Despite the strict sanitary rules in place at the establishment, the Pasino was unable to escape the closure measures taken for Marseille and Aix en Provence. The prefectural decree has made bars and restaurants in these two towns to close for two weeks, with a stopover after seven days.
The other casinos in the department, La Ciotat, also owned by the Partouche group, and Cassis, owned by the Barrière group, are continuing their activity.
In Guadeloupe, the two casinos owned by the Cogit group have also been closed with the island being placed at the same level of health alert as the Bouches du Rhône.
