Supplier News
Greece – Greek Commission orders temporary closure of Club Hotel Loutraki
By Phil - 6 November 2015
Greece’s Hellenic Gaming Commission (EEEP) has ordered the temporary closure of Club Hotel Loutraki for not adhering to a court ruling demanding the casino pays €1.8m in gaming tax that it owes from the last three months.
The casino’s owners admitted that they owed the amount and promised to settle it immediately. The commission is currently awaiting payment to allow the casino to reopen.
A spokesman for the casino, which has faced several bankruptcy rumours over the last two years, said: “Unfortunately, we did not manage to collect the amount on time. We’re struggling to collect the money in order to be able to open in the afternoon.”
The owners of Loutraki’s casino had initially contested the introduction of a 13 per cent Gross Gaming Revenues Tax but a court decision in July ruled against it.
In July, the property’s owners Queenco-Leisure International and Club Hotel Investments confirmed that they had put it up for sale. Once one of the casino cash cows of Europe, Loutraki has been stifled by the severity of the recession in Greece. Operating over an area of approximately 5,500m2 on two floors with 1,000 slot machines and 80 gaming tables, it is typically the second-best earning casino in Greece.
GGR at Greece’s nine casinos has fallen by half a billion euros over the past seven years. Across the board, revenue came in at just €270m in 2014, down 10 per cent compared to the previous year. In 2007, GGR reached €776.7m.
The introduction of VLT operation across Greece is expected to hit also hit casinos hard when they next report their earnings.
