The Mexican Member of Parliament Francisco Dávila, an opponent of casino licensing, this week confirmed that Congress is studying legislation for legalising gaming and betting. Speaking in Michoacán, Davila said that over three thousand gaming machines are operating in Mexico without regulation. The federal legislator admitted that even though casino gaming is prohibited in Mexico, licences are granted for local annual fairs to operate gambling games for around 28 days.

At present a Parliamentary Commission is examining various initiatives on the feasibility of licensing casinos in the country. According to Dávila, the Commission will issue its report this year. He commented that casinos would not solve the problems in the tourism sector but that they could bring additional tourists to Mexico. Citing Spain as an example, he added that cities where casinos had been opened saw tourist revenues rise by around 6%.

Unlike Spain and Chile, where tourist enterprises are well supported by their federal governments, the Mexican industry receives just 1% of the federal budget. Casinos could bring visitors to areas such as Durango, which have few tourist attractions, much as the new casino law in Chile has done in that country. Tourism is the third largest source of revenue in Mexico and 22 million visitors arrive annually, 18 million from the US. (E-04.03.09)

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