First casino in Liechtenstein has closed down

Just recently we had reported that in Liechtenstein there are six casinos for just 40,000 inhabitants. As it was recently announced one of these six casinos has closed its doors. The lights were out on the 11th of July in the Casino 96 in Balzers, in Liechtenstein. Were there too many casinos for the EU dwarven city?

Around a year ago we had published an article and raised the issue, whether Liechtenstein is meanwhile the Las Vegas of Europe . Several casinos have opened here within just a few years. Is the hype already over? As it was announced, one of the six casinos has closed its doors. This was announced in a recently published press announcement by the Casinos Austria International Holding GmbH.

CAI: Focus on Casino Schaanwald

As the Casinos Austria International Holding GmbH has announced, the Casino 96 in Balzers has closed its doors on the 11^th of July. The operators plan to focus mainly on the nearby Casino Schaanwald. Consequently they do not want to have two casinos in the same company competing against each other, but are helping to stabilise the Casino Schaanwald, by closing the one in Balzers.

Many employees in the Casino Schaanwald will be taken over

Most of the employees could be offered further employment opportunities by the CAI in the Casino Schaanwald. Only a very small percentage of the workforce was dismissed. These employees are now being supported to find “new job opportunities“ .

At the end of May of this year we had reported about the opening of the sixth casino in Liechtenstein. According to statistics, since the Casino Maximus in Schaan has opened its doors there was a casino for every 6700 inhabitants in Liechtenstein - record breaking. 

State wants to end the Casino Boom in Liechtenstein

The state aims to, as far as possible, unofficially end the gambling boom in the country. After several casinos have opened in the country within a few years, the state is facing several problems. Even the population in Liechtenstein was not so happy with having six casinos.

At the beginning of this year a new Casino Act came into force in Liechtenstein. Since then, the Casinos in Liechtenstein had to deal with higher tax payments. Besides this, the ratio between game tables and slot machines has been adjusted. Whereas here the previous ratio was of 1:20, now only a ratio of 1:15 is permissible. Consequently, to a certain extent, it has become less attractive to operate a casino in Liechtenstein.

Conclusion

After the sixth casino opened in Liechtenstein a few months ago, the first casino in the locality of Balzers has closed. However, no trend can yet be observed to confirm whether the casino boom in the country is over. It is however a fact, that since the new regulations came into force on the 1^st of January 2022, the conditions for casino operators have now become less attractive.

Image Source: https://pixabay.com/de/photos/liechtenstein-stadt-architektur-176116/