How Does Jamaica’s Growing Casino Scene Compare Worldwide?
The beautiful island of Jamaica has been attracting visitors to its white sandy beaches for decades.Tourists are drawn to the offerings of incredible nature, culture, music, food and more. Recently, though, Jamaica has also been garnering a reputation for its budding casino and gaming scene. Since legislation was passed allowing casinos on the island in 2012, the developments have been growing rapidly. With a bright future for gaming on the horizon, could this be a massive new industry for the island that helps pad out the GDP? Let’s have a look at the growing casino scene here in Jamaica and compare it to other casino destinations around the world.
Jamaican Gaming is Growing
Jamaica is becoming known for much more than just pristine beaches and a tropical breeze. The casino and resort scene here is growing rapidly, providing thrilling adult entertainment for all. When the sun goes down, the most fun experiences to be had here are in the top of the line casino resorts, enjoying the exciting atmosphere with friends and loved ones.
Since casinos were first introduced to this tropical paradise, Jamaica has been enjoying the growing benefits. The country’s GDP has seen a large increase of several percent year on year since casinos and gaming here started to take off. It has greatly benefitted from this budding new economic revenue, and indeed there are plans to expand further here. Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett, has laid out some plans for the future that would include exciting developments like a new Hard Rock resort, which would include an in-house casino. The overall goal seems to be to increase the reputation here for gaming, whilst building on top of that with hotels and resorts, offering multi faceted entertainment attractions to visitors.
Future developments will compliment the already established casinos here. Mosino is one of the best casinos in Montego Bay, offering a wide range of slot machines and table games for tourists. The Reno Bar and Gaming Lounge is another well known destination in the area. There are numerous more casinos around the island contributing to the growing reputation of Jamaica as a gaming hotspot. With the future of Jamaica’s casino scene looking bright, how does it compare to other well known casino destinations worldwide?
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom is becoming quite the destination for gaming. Some of the best online casinos in the world are headquartered here. Sites like 888 Casino offer amazing odds and bonuses that attract players from all over the world. In London, Empire Casino is just one of the many great spots for table games and evening fun. The UK is also rapidly becoming one of the best places for up and coming card players to build their skills, with many major poker tournaments making a stop here on their tours.
When we compare the two, Jamaica has an advantage over the UK as it has spectacular weather year round. While the UK is known to get quite cold and gloomy, Jamaica attracts tourists looking to escape the winters back home and enjoy the tropical landscape. This in turn will bring more revenue to the Caribbean casinos, especially when many are offering multiple attractions.
Macau
Macau is the most famous casino and resort hub in the world. The Chinese city is one of the biggest recipients of tourist revenue, and the casino industry here is more than five times larger than that of Las Vegas. The economy is heavily reliant on casinos and the tourism industry overall, with not many other attractions or exports to offer.
When we compare Macau and Jamaica, surprisingly Jamaica has some distinct advantages. While Macau is only 30 square kilometers, the Caribbean island is significantly larger, at over 10,000. Also, Macau’s visitors come only for their casino attractions; Jamaica brings tourists from all over the world for a variety of scenery and entertainment. With numerous offerings and the incredible Caribbean landscape, casinos here could thrive with some development and rival other destinations. The potential for Jamaica is huge.
Overall, the casinos and entertainment market in Jamaica is growing rapidly and is adding a lot to the annual revenue from tourism that the country relies on. There are numerous benefits to nurturing this growing sector and the upside could be immense. While Jamaica has been looking for ways to gain more annual revenue, we may have found it in the casino industry.
