Bahamas Considering Tourists-Only Online Gambling Bill

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Thursday, September 4th, 2014 | Written by Lucy Brown

The Bahamas may become the next nation to offer legalized online gambling, after it was announced a bill first proposed in May 2013 could finally make its way to the Bahamian House of Assembly as early as next week. However, a number of hurdles have to first be overcome, most noticeably the discriminatory part of the bill which limits online gambling to just tourists from visiting countries.

Boost to Bahamian economy

International tourism in The Bahamas accounts for half the country’s Gross Domestic Product worth $8.043 billion each year, as well as representing half of all its domestic employment opportunities. Introducing the new gaming regulations is expected to boost the country’s tourism industry considerably, specifically by helping to lay the groundwork for its $3.5 billion Baha Mar integrated gaming resort to become a major driver of the nation’s economy when it eventually opens for business in Spring 2015.

In addition to stimulating private investment and creating more jobs, the new gaming bill would also compliment the efforts by the government to improve The Bahamas’ tourism infrastructure, which includes roadwork improvements, enhanced cruise-ship facilities, and a major $409 million airport renovation and expansion. As Baha Mar’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Sarkis Izmirlian, explains:

“These regulatory updates would provide The Bahamas and Baha Mar with a sustainable competitive advantage, which is vital for an economy driven by international tourism. The Bahamas has long been known as a stable gaming jurisdiction, and these new regulations would put us on a level playing field with the world’s most successful casino markets such as Las Vegas, Singapore and Macau. The regulations also would allow us to offer private VIP gaming salons, enhanced lines of credit, gaming junkets and other amenities vital to attracting affluent international casino customers.”

Contentious language of bill

The Gaming Bill is now on the House of Assembly’s agenda and is waiting to be tabled and debated before being put submitted to a referendum. Just like in the US, the new law would only permit the country’s brick-and-mortar casinos to offer iGaming, but unlike the American model the gambling websites would only be made available to overseas tourists visiting from jurisdictions where online gambling has been regulated.

Needless to say, the discriminatory language of the bill has been met with a chorus of disapproval from some Bahamian politicians, such as MP Leslie Millar, who described the proposed regulation as “very contentious” and disadvantaging Bahamians “in favour of foreigners.”

Local casinos only open to non-Bahamians

At the same time, land-based casinos in The Bahamas are also only open to foreigners, an approach designed to balance the country’s aspiration of extracting financial benefits from having a casino gambling industry, whilst still satisfying demands of more conservative groups to reduce the social ills of gambling on the local population.

Nevertheless, many pro-online gambling lobbyist are questioning whether such a provision should apply to the world of online gambling, especially since limiting players to just those countries’ already with iGaming regulation will severely reduce the potential revenues such sites could hope to earn. Furthermore, it seems unlikely that players from regulated iGaming jurisdictions will travel all the way to The Bahamas to then spend their time gambling on computers or tablets indoors.

Other hurdles ahead

The Bahamas has sought to change its gambling laws for some time now, with the previous Gaming Bill having stalled after receiving critical reviews from a number of politicians, such as former Gaming Board Chairman Dr. Andre Rollins, with a major issue needed to be addressed including the language used to satisfy local banks, as well as the need to implement a comprehensive structure to regulate and tax the gambling websites.

However, there exists a huge upside for The Bahamas to embrace regulated iGaming and in spite of significant opposition to the Gaming Bill, strong support in favour of online gambling is beginning to gain momentum. Once social and political hurdles are eventually overcome the Bahamas subsequently stands to benefit from online gambling in a number of different ways.

Since 2005, The Bahamas has also played host to the hugely popular PokerStars Carribbean Adventure (PCA) which each year is held at the Atlantis Casino and Resort on Atlantis Paradise Island. Next year, the tournament series will take place between January 6-14, and if the gambling bill passes before that date then hundreds of poker players will subsequently get to enjoy playing online from the stunning Bahamian resort.