Royal Gazette<\/em> confirmed that company representatives met with government officials at the end of last week. If they made any real advances, no one is saying.<\/p>\nFluff and No Stuff<\/h2>\n The only news that surfaced from last week\u2019s meeting was a photo op. In it, Bermuda Premier David Burt and Minister of Tourism Vance Campbell met with representatives of St. Regis.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s another person in that meeting, as well. That individual\u2019s image is cropped out of the photo and the media outlet didn\u2019t provide any details on his or her identity.<\/p>\n
The Royal Gazette<\/em> explained that the individuals on the St. Regis side of the table included owners of the hotel and a \u201crepresentative of their proposed casino operator.\u201d It didn\u2019t name the operator and attempts to identify it have been futile.<\/p>\nThe representatives also met with the Bermuda Gaming Commission (BGC) ahead of their meeting with Burt and Campbell. Following the meetings, a government spokesperson said in a statement that the talks were \u201cfrank and extremely useful.\u201d That\u2019s the extent of the information available.<\/p>\n
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Campbell added after the meeting that his meeting with St. Regis representatives and Burt offered insight into the property\u2019s operations and \u201cadditional thoughts on the coming season.\u201d Similarly to the statement by the unidentified government spokesperson, there was no indication of serious progress on the casino discussion.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Burt weighed in on the meeting as well. He said that government officials are meeting with banks and hoteliers, and are trying to address the delays. He also reiterated previous comments that the government is working with the BGC in order to try to come up with \u201cthe necessary balance between encouraging gaming\u201d and regulations.<\/p>\n
St. Regis Still Optimistic<\/h2>\n No one seemed to be willing to share specific details about what\u2019s causing the delays or what the future holds. However, St. Regis is reportedly still 100% behind its casino plans.<\/p>\n
Burt said Bermuda has a \u201cpositive outlook for a casino.\u201d He added that everyone, including the government, is behind the project, which he called an \u201ceconomic imperative for Bermuda.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\nSome have said that part of the delay might be because of Burt\u2019s involvement. They argue that the government doesn\u2019t need to interfere with the BGC\u2019s efforts. This was part of the reason former BGC chairman Alan Dunch resigned.<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t help that the Casino Gaming Amendment Act of 2017 gave more power to the Tourism Ministry. This included the ability to control, almost at will, who was on the BGC board.<\/p>\n
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However, as a new government body and regulator, it\u2019s illogical to expect the BGC to get started without involvement from higher-ups on the government ladder. Even today, the UK\u2019s gambling industry, one of the oldest established industries in Europe, finds the government setting policies<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nStill, Bermuda\u2019s government spent exorbitant amounts of money and resources to launch the casino project. Supporters of the initiative want it to begin reaping benefits and don\u2019t believe that coming up with solutions in a country of only around 64K should take this long.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Just days after Bermuda’s Hamilton Princess and Beach Club lost its casino partner, Century Casinos, the St. Regis Bermuda Resort decided it needed to discuss its future casino plans with the government. That took place last week, although there\u2019s no indication that real progress is being made. Century Casinos grew impatient with waiting and recently […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":256436,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,81884],"tags":[83165,84546,13363],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Bermuda Leaders Meet with St. Regis Hotel Over Casino, No Indication of Resolution - Casino.org<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n