Tourism 'too greedy' over casino licence

LA GRANDE MARE has pulled out of tendering for Guernsey's casino licence because the £3.5m. price tag was too high. Managing director Simon Vermeulen said the Tourist Board's demand for that kind of money was greedy. The cost, spread over a decade, made it impossible for the hotel to bid. 'We had all the plans passed by the Island Development Committee and had our whole project costed,' he said. 'Six weeks before the cut-off point for the tender documents we realised it wasn't going to be, given they wanted nearly £3.5m. We reviewed our interests and we didn't put a bid in.' Mr Vermeulen said that the initial tendering would have cost him £425. But if the hotel was awarded the licence, it would have to pay a one-off fee of £400,000 and a further £300,000 a year in royalties for a period of 10 years. 'The idea was to encourage investment in hotels, but by asking for nearly £3.5m. they have been a bit greedy and blown everybody out of the water.' La Grande Mare was first asked in 1997 to put in a bid for a casino licence but because of the time lapsed and the money asked, the hotel and casino operators lost interest. 'We have talked to some of the biggest casino operators all over the world but all have gradually lost interest,' said Mr Vermeulen. 'The last operator was very interested to put in a tender but, having to operate at those fees, he was completely blown out of the water.' Mr Vermeulen said the hotel was prepared to make a serious investment but this was too much. 'With the high building costs, a casino was looking a bit expensive - but it was still viable to do that. But the Tourist Board wanted an annual royalty,' said Mr Vermeulen. 'It would leave us taking all the risks with no guarantee that a casino was going to work in Guernsey.' Tourist Board president Geoff Norman declined to comment but said the board would release more information on the tendering process soon. La Grande Mare was the second local hotel to pull out just before the tender process got under way. Old Government House owner Ken McVey said earlier this year that the cost of tendering and getting the licence was too high. St Pierre Park has tendered for the casino and said that without the licence, it would not spend £20m. on a revamp of the hotel. CI Traders chairman Tom Scott did not want to comment and said he was concentrating on his own St Pierre Park application.