The government of South Africa considers its land casino industry to be closely related to its tourism industry. Tourists to South Africa will soon realize that its land casino resorts are located in and around its most popular tourist hotspots. Besides casino gaming facilities, these casino resorts offer almost all facilities that tourists can possibly desire. Based on a wide range of themes, depending on their location, these casino resorts give tourists to South Africa something to remember.
The operators of some of the best casino resorts in South Africa are Peermont and Sun International. A list of top South African casino resorts includes Peermont Global, Phumelela Gaming and Leisure, Hosken Consolidated Investments, and Gold Reef Casino Resorts, to mention just a few.
Featured South African Land Casinos
Size of Industry and Figures
The South African government began working on developing its casino resort industry just 4 years back, and today the country has casino resorts that have become famous worldwide. South Africa has around 28 casinos at the moment, but the number is bound to increase anytime because more casinos are being constructed.
Casino resorts in South Africa have boosted the country’s economy considerably. They have not only generated hundreds and thousands of jobs for South African citizens, but have also led to the development of its tourism industry. The South African casino hotels industry also takes the issue of responsible gambling and prevention of problem gambling seriously.
Licensing
Although online gambling is illegal in South Africa, the country’s land casino industry is thriving. The National Gambling Act of 1996 legalized gambling, but failed to create a proper regulatory framework, as a result of which it had to be repealed in 2004. An amendment was proposed in 2008, but it has not yet been implemented. Land based casino gaming within South Africa is perfectly legal provided the operators are licensed; however, placing bets on casino games online at offshore online gambling sites is not legal.
Breakdown by Region
There were no legal casinos in South Africa before 1994, but eventually, proper casino laws were passed and existing hotels began applying for licenses to establish casino resorts in South Africa. Needless to say, licenses were not granted to all of them, but those who did receive a license had to sign a contract with the governing bodies of the provinces in which they intended to set up a casino. Accordingly, Grand West Casino, located in Cape Town, is associated with the Convention Centre there.
Today, Western Cape has 5 casinos, the largest one being Grand West in Goodwood. The other four casinos are in Mossel Bay, Worcester, and Langebaan.
A number of smaller hotels were also granted licenses to operate slot gaming services.