Euro Crisis Hits Swiss Casinos
The weak euro and high federal taxes are causing Swiss casinos to struggle.
Ticino, a Swiss town near the Italian border, boasts the biggest concentration of casinos in Europe and the largest casino in Europe.
However, casinos in Ticino and the rest of Switzerland have been hit hard by the euro crisis. Employees and suppliers are paid in francs, while most players use the euro. The euro has dropped around 25% in value since the beginning of 2010, so the same amount of Euros means much fewer Francs.
The beleaguered casinos have also been affected by the smoking ban and video lotteries in Italy. In total, Swiss casinos have lost at least 40% of their gross gaming revenues.
In addition, the Swiss federal government stipulates that casinos pay almost 50% of profits to the state. Although casinos attempted to renegotiate this extraordinarily high figure, the government refused.
Industry insiders have pledged to maintain the quality of their client services, but will streamline internal organization. However, if the euro crisis does not improve, casinos will be forced to curtail investments and cut costs.
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