In Liechtenstein they are holding a referendum on the banning of…casinos

The Liechtenstein is known for its alpine landscape and its castles but also a more common tourist attraction – the casino.

In the principality, one-tenth the size of London and with a population of 40,000, they operate six casinos, earning it the nickname “Las Vegas of the Alps”. All six of these businesses opened in 2017, after change in law that made gambling legal, welcoming crowds of visitors from Germany and neighboring Switzerland and Austria who wanted to try their luck at the ‘slots’ as well as the roulette and poker tables. But all of them will have to be shut down if casino ban proponents succeed in their goal of referendum which takes place on January 29. They argue that the industry risks tarnishing the reputation that the country, on the international “blacklist” of tax havens until it began relaxing banking data privacy laws more than a decade ago, has struggled to recover.

The referendum, and the signatures needed to call it, was brought to the fore by the lobby group IG VolksMeinung, which was set up to stem the “casino flood”.

“We don’t want to become a casino and poker hotspot in the center of Europe» said one of its members, Guido Meyer, in a discussion about the upcoming referendum. “It’s a big problem for the reputation” of Liechtenstein.

If the proposal for a ban is upvoted, as reported by APE-MPE, casinos should be closed within five years. Some major foreign gaming companies are behind some of the casinos, such as Austria’s Novomatic AG, whose “sister company” Gryphon Invest AG, indirectly owns a majority stake in half of Liechtenstein’s casinos.

“We hope voters will take the advice of the two major parties, as well as the Chamber of Commerce and other institutions, and recognize that a well-regulated market is better than an outright ban,” Gryphon said in a statement to Reuters. Casinos Austria International, which owns another of those casinos, did not respond to a request for comment.

Reinhard Fischer, president of Liechtenstein’s casino association and director of Grand Casino, believes that regardless of the outcome of the referendum, natural attrition in a limited market will reduce their number in the country anyway, to a maximum of four casinos. He does not accept the argument that the industry threatens the good reputation of the principality. “Everything we do is in accordance with the law and in some cases exceeds the level required by the laws” he declared.

Casinos also offer substantial income in Liechtenstein. Last year, taxes from trips by mostly foreign visitors to the principality’s casinos brought in 50 million Swiss francs ($54.51 million).

“It’s definitely revenue related to our budget,” said Zabine Monauni, deputy prime minister. The government is encouraging residents to vote against the proposed ban, which Monauni calls “too radical, too extreme” and doesn’t think it will solve the problem of gambling addiction. “We want to continue to allow gambling in Liechtenstein and that’s why we now have to find the balance between measures that limit activity while not completely destroying the market,” he said.