MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bill to lift ban on cruise casinos and gambling while in Chilean territorial waters

Gambling is one of several sources of income for the cruise industry

A bill allowing cruise vessels to operate their on board casinos and other gambling activities while in Chilean territorial waters was presented Tuesday in the Chilean congress. The proposal is a long standing demand from the international cruise industry.

“Current legislation bans this type of gambling from the moment vessels transporting passengers on leisure tours enter Chilean territorial waters, which constitutes for the cruise operators a significant restriction not making attractive their presence in Chilean ports” said lawmaker Gabriel Ascencio, president of the Lower House Extreme Zones Commission and one of the sponsors of the bill.

Given this situation and requests from the Chilean cruise industry, “this legal initiative would also authorize the functioning of casinos and other on board gambling activities in Chilean flagged vessels”.

The bill rests responsibility on the monitoring and control of this benefit on the Casino and Gambling Office. Ascencio said that this last clause “would avoid all discrimination between international and Chilean flagged vessels”.

The cruise industry which depends heavily on gambling on board and Chilean tourism operators had repeatedly cautioned Chilean authorities that this legal restriction would have a non positive impact on the number of vessels calling in Chilean ports.