British study finds casinos drive wider nightlife spending — what Belgium should measure

A British industry study presented on 14 October shows land-based casinos draw visitors who also use nearby restaurants, bars and hotels, and that the sector links to employment and investment plans. The Betting and Gaming Council published survey results cited at a Night Time Industries Association event at the Hippodrome Casino in London, with figures including 41.1% of customers who said they would have stayed at home without the casino and 72.1% who used at least one other local business during their visit.

Key findings from the UK report

The report, presented at the Hippodrome Casino on 14 October during a Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) meeting, is titled Beyond Gaming: The Evolution of Britain’s Land-Based Casinos as Nightlife Destinations. It sets out visitor responses and sector-level numbers: the 108 licensed British casinos support about 14,000 direct and indirect jobs and receive nearly 14 million visits a year. The visitor metric refers to visits, not 14 million unique individuals.

Survey responses cited by the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) show two headline percentages from customers:

• 41.1% said they would have stayed at home if they had not visited the casino

• 72.1% said they used at least one other local business during the same visit

The study also records that 55% of respondents said they probably or certainly would not have come to the neighbourhood without the casino. The report notes these percentages reflect different survey questions and should not be summed.

What the figures do — and do not — prove

The study frames casinos as destinations combining gaming with restaurants, bars and entertainment, intended to broaden appeal and increase dwell time. The BGC and NTIA use that framing to argue for a role for casinos in evening and night economies. The figures show that many visitors engage with neighbouring businesses, but they do not quantify spending at those businesses or the net additional turnover generated for a local area.

The report itself cautions that knowing a visitor used another local enterprise is not the same as knowing how much they spent there. The publication does not convert visitor engagement into a measured increment to local revenues.

Industry context and policy debate

Michael Kill, chief executive officer of the Night Time Industries Association, emphasised the need for businesses that give people a reason to leave home. The Betting and Gaming Council's executive Grainne Hurst highlighted employment and potential benefits for restaurants, bars and hotels when discussing the study. Both organisations represent sectors with a policy interest in a favourable operating climate.

The BGC has additionally identified approximately £200 million of planned investment by casino operators over the next five years, allocated to hospitality, entertainment and visitor facilities. The organisation presented that figure alongside a warning that new tax burdens and uncertainty over the Machine Games Duty could curb investment. The report and the investment claim are used by the sector to make the case for a stable fiscal environment.

Regulatory change relevant to the argument is the suite of British casino reforms introduced in 2025. The Gambling Commission's changes for physical casinos granted certain operators expanded options, including higher numbers of slot machines; the reforms came into force on 22 July 2025. The sector argues that fresh tax pressure combined with such regulatory changes could influence whether planned investments proceed.

What Belgium can — and must — measure

Belgian policymakers and city planners cannot assume British percentages map directly onto local markets. Gambling Club places the question for Belgium around measurable outcomes: do casinos attract visitors who would otherwise not be present in the area; do those visitors combine casino visits with restaurants or overnight stays; and do they produce net new spending for nearby businesses?

Gambling Club cites a Belgian example of operator ambition: Golden Palace chief executive Massimo Menegalli described a future-site model at Place de la Digue in Charleroi with a theatre above the casino and a combined offer of culture, food, drink and leisure. Menegalli said people should be able to spend an evening there without gambling. That plan is a design illustration rather than an empirical result.

A robust Belgian study should therefore collect multiple data sources: visitor surveys of casino customers, sales and footfall data from neighbouring businesses, information from non-gambling visitors to the area, and input from local authorities. Location matters; a casino in a tourist zone will function differently from one in a dense city centre. The British survey percentages do not provide a direct proxy for Belgian behaviour.

Legal certainty and investment continuity

Continuity of operations and legal certainty matter for investment decisions. Gambling Club reported in September on the withdrawn casino concession award in Brussels, where the city retracted a decision favouring E.C.K., the company behind Napoleon Games, after the Council of State suspended the award. That dispute introduced uncertainty for future operations and employees; reports named 286 workers connected to the dossier.

Such procedural and continuity issues differ from the UK tax debate but underline the same point: operators and surrounding businesses make investment choices based on clarity about licensing and operating conditions. A city evaluating the wider economic role of a casino needs both empirical measurement and predictable regulatory decisions.

Research design recommendations for Belgian studies

Belgium should prioritise measurement over anecdote. A credible local study would:

1. Combine customer surveys with sales and footfall figures from adjacent restaurants, hotels and bars.

2. Include non-gambling visitors and local residents in the data set to capture displacement versus net new spending.

3. Track employment impacts using headcount and contracted roles rather than relying on sector estimates.

Employment and visit numbers are germane to the debate, but they must be balanced with player protection. Physical casinos remain operators of gambling products and the need for safeguards persists alongside any hospitality strategy. Gambling Club has previously outlined signals of problem gambling and the Belgian EPIS exclusion mechanism; protection remains part of the policy mix.

The British study provides a research template and a set of headline percentages, but Belgian authorities should design local studies to measure actual spending flows, employment outcomes and the interplay with regulatory certainty before drawing policy conclusions.