How This Small Caribbean Island Became A Huge Name In Online Gambling
17 January, 2024The Caribbean Sea is home to dozens of gorgeous islands with idyllic beaches and rich cultures. Many of these islands are well-known countries and popular tourist destinations. The likes of Jamaica, St Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago or even Aruba see swathes of holidaygoers every year.
But amongst all these gorgeous islands you’ll find a small place that flies under the radar. Curacao is a Dutch Caribbean island that most people haven’t heard about. However, the last decade has seen this small island explode in a niche wave of popularity. The general public doesn’t know it exists, but it’s become a well-known name in the gambling industry – especially with the British.
Why has this innocuous island attracted so much attention from online gamblers? It’s not thanks to the sandy beaches, and it’s certainly got nothing to do with the excellent Caribbean cuisine. Instead, Curacao’s popularity can be traced back to this trail of features…
An Alternative Regulatory Body For UK Gamblers
Curacao has a gambling body called the CEG. It’s responsible for overseeing hundreds of online gambling establishments, setting rules and regulations they must follow. It didn’t take long for British gamblers to discover that they could join these sites.
There became a remarkable demand for Curacao casinos that can accept UK players as Brits sought out alternatives to UKGC online casinos. They were sick and tired of the restrictions imposed by this gambling authority and wanted sites that gave more freedom while retaining a sense of security.
Curacao casinos provided precisely what they were looking for – and the UK gambling scene never looked back.
A Series Of Tax Incentives For Gambling Companies
You can see why casinos with a Curacao licence attracted UK punters – but why did so many casinos start registering in Curacao? What formed this initial popularity?
It partially boils down to tax incentives. Countries in the Caribbean are known for having lots of great tax benefits for businesses. Looking at Investopedia’s list of countries with no corporate tax at all, you’ll see a handful are located in the Caribbean.
Curacao isn’t quite this relaxed, though it does have countless incentives designed to help businesses save money. That’s what attracted many gambling companies to the Curacao Gambling Licence; they knew that registering their company here would help them unlock plenty of legal tax benefits.
The Curacao Chamber of Commerce runs through all the incentives if you’d like to read more about them – but there’s one specific point to focus on:
- Profits and losses from a permanent establishment abroad are tax-exempted
In other words, if someone owns a casino that’s based in a different country yet has a Curacao licence, it can technically be tax-exempt! As you can imagine, this is music to the ears of many gambling operators.
One Of The Simplest Licensing Processes
Do you know how difficult it is to obtain gambling licences from around the world? The UK licence is notoriously the hardest to qualify for – but other countries have similarly strict rules.
This is true for lots of licences throughout Latin America and the Caribbean too. Brazil recently announced that it will finally regulate gambling and the reports suggest this licence could be one of the hardest to obtain.
The appeal of the tiny island of Curacao shines through when you see how simple it is to obtain a gambling licence. Any organisation can apply for one and it doesn’t impose strict requirements. As long as the gambling platform is safe and provides a fair place for people to gamble, the CEG will license it.
This takes care of one of the main challenges faced in the online gambling industry; becoming a licensed entity. Companies could finally protect themselves with a licence and make their casinos more universally adored. As more organisations heard about this licence, the popularity of Curacao grew even greater.
Can The Gambling Popularity Cause A Tourism Boom in Curucao
Compared to other Caribbean or Latin American islands, Curacao doesn’t see loads of tourism. It’s a shame as the island is gorgeous and has some of the best beaches you’ll find. For whatever reason, the country hasn’t been able to crack the tourism code – but could gambling change this?
More people know about Curacao now than ever before, and it’s all thanks to online gambling. If the country leans into this, could it become a top tourism destination for gamblers? Many believe it can be the Vegas of the Caribbean Sea, or perhaps a more idyllic Monaco. There are some land-based casinos on the island, but perhaps its time to create some truly masterful ones that attract tourists.
Who knows, this could be the start of Curucao’s rise to prominence as one of the most attractive islands in the Caribbean Sea. Once people start going there, we’re sure they won’t stop and the tourism industry will keep on growing.
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