GAT Showcase Bogotá will open its doors this Friday, September 16, at the Sheraton Hotel in Bogota, Colombia. The organizers of the event said that it will be “a space that gathers the land-based and online gaming industry, traditional casino games, and the latest entertainment trends, with an exhibition of the latest slots, roulette, and intelligent platforms equipment.”
In a statement, the organizers said that the growth of the land-based and online gaming industry in Colombia “is an important attraction for foreign investors, which is why it is expected that the number of visitors achieved in 2021 will be widely exceeded and the exhibiting brands in 2022 will double those of the previous year.”
The exhibiting brands will be Novomatic Latam, Merkur Gaming, EGT, Win Systems, IGT, BetConstruct, Pragmatic Play, Interblock, GLI, Alfastreet, Aruze, Aristocrat, JVL, Digitain, Mobadoo, Metamap, Copag, America Simulcast, Cockpit Gaming, Trebol Carpet, RCFC Legal, Radio Marcas, RPCol and Sadekya, an iGaming consultant firm from Curacao.
Organizers also highlighted that the brands BetConstruct, Pragmatic Play, Altenar, Metamap, and Betplay will also participate as sponsors. Five days before the event, they added that more than 850 invited businessmen have confirmed their attendance.
They also highlighted that the guilds that group the main legal gaming entrepreneurs in Colombia –Asojuegos, Cornazar, and Fecoljuegos– “will also be present at GAT Showcase Bogota with their associates and federates.”
José Aníbal Aguirre, CEO of Gaming & Technology GAT Expo.
On this matter, José Aníbal Aguirre, CEO of Gaming & Technology GAT Expo events for 23 years, said: “Colombia holds the first place in Latin America in regulatory development in terms of gaming and in terms of State revenue figures from legal gaming; this is shown by Coljuegos’ figures for the first semester of 2022. That is why GAT Showcase Bogota is so important, as it defines the investments and business in the last quarter of the year.”
Meanwhile, officials also stated that Betplay Colombia will sponsor the Esports Betting Bar area, “which will feature simulations and demonstrations of this revolutionary line of entertainment with players and casters, which will be provided by the Colombian Federation of Electronic Sports, Fedecolde.”
They added that the event will also include “the exhibition of Mobadoo’s eSports betting software, which some of the online betting operators in Colombia, led by Betplay, are currently integrating into their portfolios.”
Finally, officials added that “it will be an intense one-day exhibition and business day for Colombian operators and foreign companies with operations or projects in the region”, and the organizers are expected to launch the Gaming & Technology Expo 2023, “the large format fair that will be held again in Cartagena, on March 29 and 30.”
Sheraton Bogotá Hotel.
The Colombian market
The organizers of the event stated that the figures presented by Coljuegos, the Colombian gaming regulator, “show a 59% growth in sales in the different verticals of the sector, compared to the same period in 2021.”
According to the president of the entity, César Augusto Valencia, “the games operated by internet closed in 2020 a sum close to 8 billion Colombian pesos, doubled in 2021 and in the first semester of 2022 bets for 11 billion pesos were reported, so it is estimated that the figure may reach 20 billion, boosted by the FIFA World Cup that will take place between November and December.”
Lastly, Coljuegos stated that “there are currently 383 companies operating legally in the country in 3,116 establishments and a number of 96,076 slot machines (EGMs), authorized to operate by the Colombian government, as well as 17 platforms for online betting.”
