British study ties casinos to nighttime spending; questions for Belgium

A study presented by the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) on 14 October 2026 shows that land-based casinos drive customer flow to local businesses and plan investments worth hundreds of millions of pounds over coming years. The research, shared at a Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) event at the Hippodrome Casino in London, reports that 41.1% of respondents would have stayed at home if they had not visited the casino and that 72.1% used at least one other local business during the same visit.

Key findings from the UK report

The report titled Beyond Gaming: The Evolution of Britain’s Land-Based Casinos as Nightlife Destinations was presented on 14 October 2026 at a Night Time Industries Association event held at the Hippodrome Casino in London. Its main findings include:

• 41.1% of surveyed customers said they would have stayed at home if the casino had not been available.

• 72.1% said they used at least one other local business during their casino visit.

• 55% indicated they probably or certainly would not have visited the neighbourhood in the absence of the casino.

The paper clarifies that the percentages reflect distinct responses and should not be summed. The authors also note that the interaction figure with local businesses does not quantify how much those visitors spent at those establishments nor the net increase in turnover the casino generated for the area.

Employment, visits and announced investment

Industry material includes sector figures: the 108 licensed casinos in the United Kingdom would support approximately 14,000 direct and indirect jobs and record around 14 million visits per year. The BGC notes that those 14 million are total visits and do not equate to 14 million distinct individuals.

The trade body has also identified around £200 million in planned investments over the next five years, aimed at hospitality, entertainment and visitor services. The report itself stresses these are planned projects and that the amount does not guarantee full execution of all schemes. The BGC links these spending expectations to regulatory reforms introduced in 2025.

Regulatory framework and UK context

The Gambling Commission implemented changes to the regulation of physical casinos that came into force on 22 July 2025. Those changes allowed, under specific conditions, certain casinos to expand operational options, including a greater number of gaming machines. The BGC warns that higher tax burdens or uncertainty over the Machine Games Duty could curb the announced investments.

The Gambling Commission’s official explanation of the reforms can be consulted in the regulation section: [explanation of the Gambling Commission](/regulation).

What the study raises for Belgium

The UK report poses questions relevant to Belgian cities, although its percentages are not directly transferable to the Belgian market. Among the questions the paper proposes are:

• Do visitors come expressly for the casino or were they already in the area for other reasons?

• Do they combine the casino visit with restaurants or hotels and, if so, how much do they spend outside the gambling venue?

• Is that additional spending or merely a redistribution of expenditure among local leisure offers?

Gambling Club has already reported private initiatives in Belgium seeking to integrate leisure, culture and dining within casino projects. The most concrete example is Golden Palace’s vision for its site at Place de la Digue in Charleroi, where the company proposed a theatre above the gaming floor and a programme allowing people to “spend an evening without needing to gamble.” Golden Palace and its CEO Massimo Menegalli appear in that conversation as local actors promoting a mixed model.

A useful Belgian study would require broader data than a single casino-customer survey: it would need to combine visitor surveys, interviews with local traders, figures on non-gamblers who frequent the area and official municipal statistics on hotel occupancy and consumption. Furthermore, the role of a casino in a tourist area can differ from that in a dense urban centre; location affects spending dynamics.

Operational continuity and investment effects

The link between a casino and its surroundings also depends on regulatory and operational certainty. Gambling Club reported in September on the withdrawal of the Brussels casino concession in favour of E.C.K., the company behind Napoleon Games, after the Council of State suspended the award. That case generated uncertainty for future operation and affected 286 employees cited in coverage.

Continuity in operating conditions is a variable companies consider when deciding on investments. The BGC, for its part, uses the study’s findings to call for a stable fiscal framework that supports modernization and expanded casino offers.

More detail on sector investment proposals and their link to fiscal policy is available in the commercial affairs coverage: [sector investment analysis](/b2b).

Player protection and limits of the economic argument

The UK report and subsequent discussion remind that, although a casino can attract customers to local hospitality and create jobs, it remains an activity that offers gambling. Any assessment of economic contribution must incorporate player protection measures. In Belgium there are mechanisms such as the EPIS exclusion list; the coexistence of economic objectives and consumer-protection goals is part of the debate.

The main message for Belgian cities is methodological: before assuming a net economic contribution, one must measure whether the casino generates additional spending or only redistributes expenditure among existing businesses, and under which regulatory and legal-certainty conditions those positive externalities materialise.

Original publication date of the cited UK study: 14 October 2026. This piece was written by Gonzalo Marín, Correspondent for sector operations, for Gambling Club on 18 October 2026.