In this interview with CalvinAyre.com’s Rebecca Liggero, Bernie Gamboa of Ainsworth identifies which countries will fuel Latin America’s gambling industry.
With twenty sovereign states and several territories, Latin America has all the arsenal to become one of the world’s premier gaming hub.
In the northern border lies Mexico, a country known for its diverse landscape of mountains, deserts and jungle. Mexico’s picturesque characteristics have lured droves of tourists not only from the United States and Canada, but also those who live on the other side of the North Atlantic Ocean.
The services-driven Peru, home to a section of the Amazon rainforest and the ancient Machu Picchu, has become one of the fastest growing economies in the Latin American. Brazil, which is the world’s ninth-largest economy by nominal GDP, is starting to flex its economic and political might as an emerging global power.
And down south, Argentina is now embracing the idea of a free market as it turns its back from socialism.
These four countries, according to Bernie Gamboa of Ainsworth Latin America, will lead Latin America to become a regional gambling powerhouse. Gamboa predicts a potential growth for the slot market in these four countries.
He said that Mexico, Argentina, and Peru has been their company’s revenue generating markets among Latin American countries at present.
“Slot market in Latin America is very exciting. There’s always s different market popping up and new casinos opening in new regions and talks about expanding gaming in areas of tourism,” Gamboa told CalvinAyre.com. “Surprisingly well, Mexico probably being one of the biggest markets. We supply the largest amount of cabinets and softwares and you know, we reach in thousands right now in placing of machines. Argentina we consider one of the important markets for us, type of player and amount of bets. Peru is also a very very important market for Latin America.”
On the other hand, he said investors should also keep an eye on Brazil, which is attempting to pass legislation that will authorize brick-and-mortar casinos, video bingo terminals, the jogo de bicho numbers game and online sports betting and casino sites.
“Everybody is talking about Brazil. There’s a possibility that there will be gaming in the near future. So we are keeping it in our radar,” he said.
But unlike in other gaming hubs in the world, Gamboa pointed out that the region is still lagging behind in terms of trying to attract younger generation of players. He said the focus of most companies is still on entertaining existing customers.
“For the younger generation. We are still years away. We are still worried about the existing customers – the one that are coming now and playing our machines. So you know, we work on building tools like link progressives and connecting number of machines for a shared jackpot and the possibility of giving a very big prize to a single player,” he said.
