August is normally the peak of the season for the Slovenian gaming industry, but this year revenues have been effected by the far-reaching austerity measures in place in neighbouring Italy. Slovenia's largest gaming chain, Hit, has reported a significant decline of visitors in the first half of the year.
Heavily dependant on Italian customers, Hit registered 600,000 visitors in the first six months of 2012, down 7% over the same period last year. Its hotels meanwhile generated 67,000 overnight stays, a 5% decrease.
While Hit is hoping that the trend will improve somewhat in August, the outlook for its gaming capacities remains uncertain.
Similar austerity-driven declines in the number of visitors are seen with other hotel chains in Slovenia, but the gaming industry is specific, Hit spokeswoman Katja Kogej said. Its two peak seasons, August and December, are dominated by gamers from Italy, but these are now spending less due to austerity, she explained.
Source: The Slovenian Times
