Majority of vacationers against Bermuda casino

HAMILTON, Bermuda-ONE exit poll asking visitors to Bermuda if they would visit a casino on the island has found that a resounding 65% majority said they would not.

The tourism statistics released earlier this week stated that “two-thirds of visitors indicate that if a casino was available in Bermuda, they would definitely not (41 percent) or probably not (24 percent) visit the site to gamble” and that “more than half consider a casino would make Bermuda less appealing to them”.

The results came as the first effect of a US $300,000 “feasibility study” commissioned by Premier Dr. Ewart Brown last month to find if relaxing the island’s stringent gambling laws would be beneficial to its tourism product.

While Brown said that he was glad to have any statistical data to guide the government’s legislative decisions, members of the opposition looked at the findings in a more critical light. ~~Adz:Right~~

“The finding indicates that gambling may not be the panacea many believe it to be. If the Government is determined to pursue this activity — and there is no harm in exploring the possibilities — it clearly needs to conduct the most careful analysis of what the market wants,” Shadow Tourism Minister Michael Dunkley said after the survey was released.

The three month survey questioned 721 visitors to Bermuda by air travel, a small fraction of the annual 97,000-plus visitors who come to the island through that mode.

It remains unclear at this time how many more studies would need to be conducted before the government would consider repealing the long standing ban on gambling. Many advocates of lifting the gambling ban, however, have argued that casinos would help compensate for the 22% decrease in visitor arrivals documented last year.