ECA praises positive impact of ‘Did You Know?’ campaign

Land-based gambling trade body, the European Casino Association (ECA), has branded the results of its first public communications campaign as “a positive outcome”.

Launching the “Did You Know?” campaign last May, the ECA aimed to shed a positive light on the image of the licensed land-based casino incumbents operating across regulated European markets.

During the course of the past months, the ECA has been raising awareness on its social media channels on the positive impact of the industry to the wider public and key stakeholders.

The “Did You Know?” campaign, consisting of several key messages and factsheets, has sought to dispel some of the myths surrounding the casino industry by tackling several issues including compliance, anti-money laundering and the industry’s economic contribution to wider society. Some of these include messages such as:

• On average each ECA member casino generates an economic impact of almost €23m per year.
• ECA member casinos generate employment for close to 340,000 people.
• There are almost 100m visits to ECA member casinos per year.
• Licensed land-based casino industry contributes over €3.2bn per year.
• ECA member casinos spend over €200m per year on compliance.

Via the plethora of messages, the ECA stressed that it was striving to demonstrate a commitment and determination to combat illegal gambling through regulation, as well as promoting responsible gambling, compliance and the positive impact on local communities.

It is said that the overall outcome is positive with a great number of views and engagements in social media, and articles featured in the trade media.

Per Jaldung, ECA chairman, commented: “The campaign is part of the ECA’s strategy to stay relevant and transparent: for a long time, the industry has been surrounded by misconceptions leading to a negative impact for the industry itself and everyone involved in it.

“Furthermore, with the global growth of gambling, it is fundamental to distinguish the licensed and legitimate industry from the illegal and grey one. We are proud of this initiative and look forward to more to come.”