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After years of small changes since the game became legal, there have been quite a few changes in the Bahamas. Atlantis continues to grow but is a paraThings are changing much faster in the rest of Isis.

We are studying how the new visa rules relating to American citizens affect playing games in the Bahamas. Since the beginning of this year, U.S. citizens can no longer travel with birth certificates and driver's licenses. This seems to have affected visitors, but it is not far from feared. A 0.9% decrease in total visitor arrivals during the first quarter of 2007 included a 5% decrease in air content.

The Bahamas is 30 minutes away by plane from the U.S. and there are many islands. Casinos finally spread to what is known as the "family island" last year when Pinnacle Entertainment's "Casino of Emerald Bay" opened in Four Seasons Resort Great Exuma. Ministers recently reported that a casino project at Andros' Club Med has never come to fruition and that more casinos may be open on the family island, although no one knows if the "door" casino resort will work. After years of talk of casinos in Bimini, it was announced that there would be casinos in Bimini Bay Resort.


The main casino development is on the second Freeport Island, where questions were raised about whether the casino would remain open after the double whammy of the Royal Oasis closure and the announcement that the newly opened Capri Island casino in Our Lukaya would be closed. Both operations have been severely affected by hurricanes over the past two years. The latest news is that a new owner has been discovered for the Royal Oasis, which requires a large amount of reconstruction. Tourism Secretary Nico Grant recently mentioned the new owners, noting: "We are working quickly and closely with the Harcourt Group to ensure the redevelopment of what is known as the Royal Oasis takes place in the earliest time frame to create new direct employment only at the construction stage by the end of this year and new direct employment in the tourism service sector by winter 2008." Last year, it was announced that World Investment Holdings (WIH), a Florida-based company, likely signed a specific agreement with owner Lehman Brothers. Capri Island announced on June 1 this year that it would withdraw, but in April it had reached an agreement with the government on a better deal and would remain.

Freeport is also looking forward to the long resort Versailles Sur Mer project. The opening of the Bahamas is likely to have a major impact on the Bahamas game scene – click the link to the website below for more information. Club Fortuna also asked the government for a license to operate a boutique casino in the 267-room resort.

New Providence's main island, Crystal Palace Casino, is in the hands of its new owner, Bahamar Development (see related links). After visiting management last year and talking to them, we were quite impressed with the vision they had and it looks like we'll be competing with Atlantis in a year. On one side of the little-known island, casinos look like they're finally coming to South Ocean Beach, and 500 room hotels are being built with plans to include casinos.

Carla Corporation dba Under Sea Resort and Casino, under Sea Resort announced on Aug. 18 last year that it was in talks with major gambling operators to build an underwater resort, including a 100,000-square-foot casino, between Florida and the Bahamas.

A big step that may affect casinos for Bahamian and Bahamian citizens was the July 25 announcement that lawmakers in Turkey and Caicos approved legislation that would allow residents of the richest island to gamble at local casinos, formerly catering only to foreigners. For 40 years, Bahamians have been banned from playing games in their own casinos, and recent new legislation from Turkey and Caicos has reignited fierce debate over allowing citizens to enter casinos. WGA will keep all subscribers up to date with everything in the future edition.