Casino in Sihanoukville (Image: Arno Maierbrugger) Cambodia’s casino industry is struggling to return to pre-Covid-19 levels as the official casino ecosystem fails to gain traction. The problem is largely due to a severe shortage of tourists, but also a lack of revenue from strikes at major casinos and various past pandemic closures, which have left many operators barely able to meet government capital investment requirements or pay for their license renewals. According to the government’s budget request, Cambodia’s casino industry should contribute 174.2…
Cambodia’s casino industry is struggling to return to pre-Covid-19 levels as the official casino ecosystem fails to gain traction.
The problem is largely due to a severe shortage of tourists, but also a lack of revenue from strikes at major casinos and various past pandemic closures, which have left many operators barely able to meet government capital investment requirements or pay for their license renewals.
Cambodia’s casino industry should contribute 174.2 billion riel ($43.6 million) to the country’s revenue, according to the government’s budget request.
tax reduction
However, the Cambodian Commercial Gambling Council – a unit of the Cambodian Ministry of Economy and Finance – CGCC) revealed that the industry’s state tax revenue for the six months ended June 30 was only 8% of the amount required by the budget law, In 2022, affected by the closure of most casinos across the country, Phnom Penh Post report.
Much of the revenue comes from lotteries and sweepstakes, and as of June 30, only 20 of Cambodia’s more than 200 casinos were actually operating.
The committee also revealed that 129 casinos have reapplied for casino licenses this year, but the China General Chamber of Commerce has only issued 13 licenses so far.
slow recovery
Officials have blamed the problem on the slow development of international tourism on which Cambodia’s commercial gambling industry depends, especially in the recently opened border areas with Thailand and Vietnam.
In the first year of the pandemic into 2020, Cambodia’s casino tax revenue fell by 53%. With a complete lack of casino gambling last year and a shortage in the first half of this year, it appears that recovery has a long way to go, they said.
