Dutch venues suffering from new lockdown

The Dutch arcades, casinos and family entertainment centres are victims of another lockdown in the Netherlands as the rate of Covid infections rises sharply.

The Dutch Government has introduced what it calls “lockdown light,” but it still means that casinos and arcades have limited capacity, social distancing down to 1.5m and have to close at 6pm.  They fall into the category of non-essential shows and services.

The venues were already facing a huge drop in earnings because of the QR code ruling. This means that anyone entering have to show a code to prove that they have been vaccinated, recovered or have been negatively tested, in order to be admitted.

Lockdown light is expected to last at least three weeks before being reviewed. The word from our contacts in the country suggested that prior to the latest lockdown, venue turnover had been reduced on average by 40 per cent.

What has not helped the Dutch market, we understand, has been the recent introduction of the “CRUKS system,” which translates as the central registration database for problem gamblers. This was introduced on October 1 and some observers in the Netherlands believe it is deterring players.