Casino Lisboa, Portugal
Encyclopedia
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Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
located at Parque das Nações (Park of the Nations) in the city of Lisbon, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. It was inaugurated and opened to the public on April 19, 2006.
The casino, at the time of opening, had around 700 slot machines (expandable to 1,000), 22 gaming tables, 4 bars, 3 restaurants and a theater seating 600.
Casino Lisboa is owned by Estoril-Sol, a company majority-owned by Chinese gambling king Stanley Ho
Stanley Ho
Stanley Ho, GBM, GLM, GBS, GML, OBE , also known as Ho Hung Sun, Stanley Ho Hung Sun, is an entrepreneur in Hong Kong and Macau. Ho is sometimes nicknamed "The King of Gambling", reflecting the government-granted monopoly he held of the Macau gambling industry for 40 years...
, with a minority shareholder with 33%, Amorim
Amorim
Amorim is a Portuguese surname. A habitational name from any of the various places named Amorim, originally Amorini, from the name of the estate owner.It may refer to:- People :*Ana Amorim, Brazilian handball player...
. Stanley Ho also owns the same-name Casino Lisboa
Casino Lisboa, Macau
The original casino and the 12-storey round hotel tower were built in 1970 by Stanley Ho, Teddy Yip, Yip Hon and Henry Fok. A 270-room extension was added in 1991 for a total of 927 rooms. In 2006, another extension, the Grand Lisboa, was built next to the current complex. Therefore a total of 2362...
in Macau
Macau
Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...
. Amorim is a Portuguese conglomerate, with two other casino concessions in Portugal (Póvoa de Varzim and Tróia).
The CEO of Estoril-Sol is Mário Assis Ferreira.
Location
The casino has been plagued by controversy since it was green-lighted around 2001-2002 by Pedro Santana LopesPedro Santana Lopes
Pedro Miguel de Santana Lopes , a Portuguese lawyer and politician, was Prime Minister of Portugal from 2004 to 2005. He is a former and current Member of the Portuguese Parliament.-Background:...
, the Lisbon Mayor. The casino was conceived as a way to fund the rebuilding of Parque Mayer, Lisbon's decadent theater district. The fact that it was to be the first casino in the country inside a major urban center (instead of a tourist area) stirred up many negative reactions claiming the casino would create gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
problems, as it would facilitate access of a younger population to games of chance by bringing the games closer to the people.
The projected location within the city itself was publicly changed several times after "definitive" announcements by the Mayor. Withdrawn locations, in succession, were Parque Mayer itself (a project by Frank Gehry
Frank Gehry
Frank Owen Gehry, is a Canadian American Pritzker Prize-winning architect based in Los Angeles, California.His buildings, including his private residence, have become tourist attractions...
that was already underway was suspended), Cais do Sodré, Jardim do Tobacco, and Feira Popular, before finally settling on Parque das Nações.
Concession
All gambling in PortugalPortugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
is subect to a concession by the State. For that effect, the country is divided in gaming zones, each having with its own concessionary with usually a single casino. The Lisbon Casino falls within the Estoril
Estoril
Estoril is a seaside resort and civil parish of the Portuguese municipality of Cascais, Lisboa District. The Estoril coast is close to Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. It starts in Carcavelos, 15 kilometres from Lisbon, and stretches as far as Guincho, often known as Costa de Estoril-Sintra or...
gaming zone, and as such, was assigned to the concessionary of that zone. However, other gaming concessionaries protested that since it was a new casino, a new gaming zone should be established and an application process for the concession should be opened. Estoril-Sol and the Portuguese Government argued that, despite usually only one casino being allowed by gaming zone, nothing in the law prevented having more than one - and, in fact, the Algarve gaming zone set up a precedent, consisting of three casinos.
Location
The casino took up the former Pavilhão do Futuro (Pavilion of the Future), one of the main attractions of the World Expo of '98Expo '98
Expo '98 was an official specialised World's Fair held in Lisbon, Portugal from Friday, May 22 to Wednesday, September 30, 1998. The theme of the fair was "The Oceans, a Heritage for the Future," chosen in part to commemorate 500 years of Portuguese discoveries...
, which was extensively rebuilt for its new purpose under a project by architect Fernando Jorge Correia. The original architects for the Pavilion (Ana Paula Lopes dos Santos, Miguel Ferreira Guedes de Carvalho and Rui Jorge Garcia Ramos) obtained an injunction to halt construction work on the grounds of copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
violation (due to changes in the façade and in the structure of the building). A superior court overruled the claim, but the construction work was still halted from January to April 2005.
Early figures
The casino was built for 108.9 million Euro, including the 15-year concession fee of €Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
30 million.
In the first two months of operation, the casino management repeatedly told the press that business was going better than planned. Target number of daily visitors was 6,000 a day; real numbers were 10,000 in the first 30 days and 7,000 until the end of June 2006. Each visitor spent € 90 in gambling. In late June, the casino shifted its opening hours from 3 pm - 3 am to 4 pm - 4 am on weekends (Friday and Saturday). This schedule also applies to eves of holidays.
In the first five months of operation, total revenues reached € 30.2 million.
Target annual turnover was € 70 million. 50% of the turnover (intake less prize payouts) reverts to the State as part of the concession terms, but otherwise the company is exempt from the usual income tax laws. In June alone, € 14 million were awarded in prizes, for around a 90% payout ratio.
Sales on nearby commerce, including the huge Centro Vasco da Gama shopping mall, are reported to have increased overall.
Effects on Estoril Casino
The workers at Estoril Casino, the biggest in Europe, went on strike in January, 2005, claiming the opening of the Lisbon Casino, only 35 km away, would reduce the number of clients and threaten their job security. The administration of Estoril-Sol had presented them with a Company Agreement, which said that, if in 36 months, the revenue had gone down due to the Lisbon Casino, they would be able to downsize the workforce. This issue was never fully solved.The company had announced a projected 20% decline in the revenue of the old casino. That decline was announced to have been just 0,9% in the first month, and 15% after five months.