Casino Life Ukraine interview with José Afonso, Casino Manager, Casino de Vigo
Can we commence this interview with a brief history of Casino de Vigo and its location in Spain?
Before getting into details about Casino de Vigo, which is a subsidiary gaming facility, I must first refer to its main casino which is also considered one of the oldest operating casinos in Spain, Casino de La Toja. This casino is located on the island of La Toja (“La Toxa” in the Galego dialect), adjacent to the town of O Grove in the Pontevedra province of the autonomous community of Galicia. Casino de La Toja has persisted through time since its opening in 1978 (the first casino to open with the legalization of gaming in Spain), and for many years a preferred vacation destination for the elite of Spanish society, as well as international aristocracy, for its thermal spas, recreational beaches and gastronomical riches.
Image: José Afonso, Casino Manager, Casino de Vigo
Whilst globalization broadened boundaries, the Galicia resort destination diminished; tourism fell to unsustainable levels, being practically limited to sporadic summer visitation. A proliferation of slot arcades and B series slot machines operating in bars diluted the market share of customers and stricter fiscal control alienated the whales. Guided by the need of economic development branching out to higher demographically populated areas of city, centers became a strategic necessity; therefore, the Casino de La Toja co-owner partnership, composed by the multinational Luckia Gaming Group, the well-known slot machine manufacturer, and also multinational casino management company CIRSA Corporation, set out to obtain legal authorization to open a branch gambling office in the nearby city of Vigo, also located in the province of Pontevedra, as this is a requirement for approving a subsidiary casino. After years of administrative bureaucracy, the subsidiary gaming facility was finally authorized in 2017 and was established in the “A Laxe” shopping mall situated at Vigo’s marina. The casino became ready to operate at the beginning of 2020.
Casino de Vigo opened its doors on the 27th of February of 2020. Unfortunately, the casino had to close shortly thereafter on the 13th of March due to the Covid-19 lockdown in Europe.
How long have you been working at Casino de Vigo and can you explain your role, along with your primary responsibilities and objectives?
I initiated this project in January of 2020 as manager for both Casino de La Toja and Casino de Vigo, and set up office at the latter due to it being a new casino, set to open with a younger and slightly inexperienced staff, which would require more attention in its initial phase. In a nutshell, all executive, operational and technical decisions are my rresponsibility. However, I’m fully supported by and with an excellent corporate team at the Luckia Gaming Group.
Upon taking on this new endeavor, my first objective was opening Casino de Vigo and operating the gaming premise according to international standards and company policies. Most importantly, my role implies getting to know the people that were recruited for the casino; for some it is their first experience in a casino environment and, for others that have been shifted from the main casino, they bring experience and accumulated knowledge specific to the industry. It has been rewarding to see these two sides come together to work as a team and share a common purpose, helping each other thrive in order to give our clients a better casino experience.
Secondly, we must assure that rules and regulations, be it internal procedures or governmental requirements, are upheld and that the casino operates seamlessly. The next step will be revamping Casino de La Toja to its original glory by overhauling a technological evolution of the gaming floor and premises, keeping in mind the scale of the operation in terms of profitability. We will be working closely with tourism operators and local resorts in the area seeking collaborations in order to offer an exclusive and unique experience to our common guests.
It has been a rough ride so far due to the turmoil the pandemic cast on all economic activities and, unfortunately, it’s still not over!
How are things looking now with regards to recovery prospects from the pandemic and a resumption of normal business?
It has been over a year since we were forced to close down due to the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak and, although we have occasionally reopened when allowed to do so, it has been a struggle to get past second gear, simply because we have never had the chance to fully operate in a normal environment, and we are still limited with restrictions imposed by local government. Some of the limitations include a reduction in our operating hours, a limitation to the capacity of patrons on our premises (50 percent at the moment), and a reduced number of allowed patrons per table, as well as physical protection barriers between players, be it at tables or slots.
At Casino de Vigo and Casino de La Toja, as well as all branches of the Luckia Game Group and CIRSA Corporation, the well-being of our patrons and staff was prioritized right from the very beginning of the pandemic, and safety measures such as masks, temperature readings upon entry, sanitization of tables and slots, as well as all surfaces in general were never disregarded in order to guarantee the hygiene and the safety of all areas of the casino. I am very pleased that we have not had a single case of infection, neither with any of our patrons nor any of our staff.
In terms of what the future has in store for us, I, personally, do not see economic or social normality being recovered in Galicia in the upcoming months and, so, we find ourselves doomed to have to wait yet another six months or more to finally be able to operate Casino de Vigo to its fullest capacity. Another aspect that must be taken into consideration is that the lockdown has changed habits; digitalization has been accelerated and the general population has become more online dependent – whether it is shopping for groceries, apparel or gambling. The online gambling market has grown exponentially in the past year and, therefore, the traditional brick-and-mortar casino must reinvent itself to compete with these new challenges. Nevertheless, I still believe that the experience provided by the physical casinos is unparalleled, and at Casino de Vigo each guest is a VIP and our mission is to offer the best casino and entertainment experience to all our patrons.
Can you provide details of the table games and slot machines operating at Casino de Vigo?
Casino de Vigo is set to operate all the well-known traditional table games such as roulette, blackjack, baccarat, poker, as well as tournaments. On the other hand, the slot floor is more limited due to legal requirements of the homologation of slot machines per autonomous region in Spain. In other words, this means that the availability of machines has to fulfill economic reasoning for a supplier to sell their machines to a specific region due to high administrative costs, and seeing that there are only two casino operators in the autonomous community of Galicia, the demand clearly exceeds the offer in terms of machine diversity. Despite this situation, we currently operate 78 slot machines from well-known manufactures such as Novamatic, EGT, Bally, IGT and Zitro. We have 16 electronic roulette satellite machines from Gold Club and Gambee, as well as, a blackjack and poker i-table. Additionally, we are installing a sports betting area provided by our partner Sportium. We are just starting – or should I say restarting – and as demand for more terminals, aligned with cooperative solutions from the manufacturers becomes available, more slot machines will be added.
Poker tournaments provide the casino with plenty of patrons in normal times. Have you plans yet for a resumption of tournaments at the casino this year?
We are in the midst of preparing an exciting new calendar with weekly poker tournaments which we expect to be starting next month; however, we still have to comply to restrictions imposed by our local government in terms of players per table and distancing between tables. I am expecting to be able to fully offer a normal tournament environment by the end of the year; however, judging by the past months, we will have to wait in order to further analyze the situation and assess the viability of bigger tournaments.
Promotions are an important factor in assisting with getting patrons back into the casino. What exciting plans are ahead for your customers?
Casino de Vigo has been implementing various promotions since we reopened after the lockdown and despite the continuous on and off shifts in the restrictions imposed by the local government and the many closings and reopenings, the public’s response has been quite a positive one. Through our member’s club we have promoted a loyalty program where, among other things, our members accumulate points per play, get cash back for frequent visits and earn promotional credits for affiliating members. We have a broad range of other promotional activities in hand that are just waiting for more flexible conditions to be launched.
Are there plans for entertainment events later this year?
Yes, there are! As soon as restrictions start to be lifted and social gatherings are permitted, we have a variety of events that are on our agenda such as small musical concerts, gastronomic showcases, art and cultural exhibitions, as well as, fashion and beauty pageants. We will also cater to some non-gambling traditional games, such as the popular Spanish card game “Mus” and bridge tournaments. We also have on our horizon a plan to partner with leisure operators in our surrounding area in order to be able to offer other non-gaming experiences to our clients and vice versa.
# Originally published August 2021 Casino Life Ukraine Issue 06 #
