Soraya Roye de Lucci, president of the Venezuelan company WINNERS 2015 CA, opens a chapter on the necessary changes in gambling and the Venezuelan hotel industry. For Roye — a businesswoman with a long history in the betting sector — tourism, casinos and hotels will play a prominent role in the modernization of the country within international standards.
“Modifying a 29-year-old Casino Law is essential,” says Roye. “It is necessary to offer real guarantees and returns to international capital that will invest in casinos and online betting. Likewise, it is important to define truly tourist areas where the activity can develop without monopolies.”
Tax inspection in the area of entertainment and betting must be redirected and taken advantage of both by the State and by the arrival of foreign investments.
The entertainment sector and gambling could become a strategic pillar for global tourism and Venezuela’s tax revenue.
When structured correctly, casinos, betting rooms and virtual platforms not only attract foreign investment, they also boost hotel infrastructure, local commerce and the generation of direct jobs. Currently, international experience demonstrates that entertainment tourism thrives where rules are transparent, predictable and technologically advanced.
New government restructuring: expectations and challenges
The recent announcements and reorganization of the State’s ministerial and institutional structures open an important window of opportunities. Expectations in the private sector and among technical consultants are significant, making a transition to a more agile model necessary, in which legal certainty and simplification of processes are priorities.
For new government management to be able to transform the betting sector into a true tourist attraction, it is essential that regulatory bodies — such as the National Casino Commission and tax entities — abandon rigid control models and adopt more intelligent supervision.
The objective should be to create an environment that prevents money laundering and guarantees responsible gaming, but which is also attractive and competitive in relation to other markets in the region.
WINNERS 2015 CA: proven experience at the service of betting
Winners 2015 is a company with a broad portfolio of clients nationally and internationally. In Latin America, it relies on the experience of renowned businessman in the tourism and betting sector Carlos Cardama, considered a reference in Brazil, an advanced country in high-end tourism and who contributes with his experience in the integration between tourism, hotels and betting.
This entire trajectory, combined with many years of experience in the sector, makes Winners 2015, represented by Walter Lucci and Soraya Roye de Lucci, a duo widely recognized in Venezuela for their consultancy and execution of casino projects.
The support offered to investors in the sector is considered essential to guarantee legal security and legal compliance, fundamental requirements for this type of venture.
In this new Venezuela focused on international business opening, it is necessary to follow the recommendations below.
1. Reform of the legal framework
Since the creation of the Casino Law in 1997, the legislation remains based on the administrative procedures of that time. Soraya de Lucci, who participated in drafting the law, highlights the need for modernization so that new technologies facilitate the control of profits, losses and taxation.
Furthermore, there is a divergence in the application of Article 25, which limits betting activity to tourist areas in the country. In practice, the standard is not fully complied with. Only in the Venezuelan capital are there betting rooms located in commercial and residential areas that are not considered tourist areas.
2. Operational efficiency
The success of an entertainment center depends on its daily operation. The company’s experience includes ambience, preparation of procedure manuals, automated betting controls and computerized video monitoring systems, which can assist the State in creating more efficient audits.
If technical compliance processes are standardized, the government will be able to monitor operations in real time without compromising the commercial flow of rooms or the tourist experience.
3. Strategic recommendations for the new management
- Creation of Special Tourist Entertainment Zones: delimit geographic areas with temporary tax incentives, where hotels and casinos function as a single integrated tourist complex.
- Single Digital Window: centralize license requests, technical registrations with inspections, tax declarations, special taxes under the Gambling Law and tax disputes on a single online platform, reducing bureaucracy.
- Public-Private Partnerships (PPP): establish permanent working tables between new government managers and operators’ technical committees to annually review the impact of tax rates, the return of online betting to the country and internal operating regulations.
The success of Venezuela’s new business structure will not depend on the quantity of regulations imposed, but on their quality and clarity. The sector claims to be prepared to contribute its experience and transform entertainment into one of the drivers of modern tourism.
Strategic proposal for investment and high-end tourism under the new government model
1. High-end tourism as State policy
Attracting high-end foreign capital — represented by international hotel chains, regulated betting operators and entertainment consortiums — requires more than geographic advantages. Requires a modern institutional environment.
Within the new government model, the entertainment sector should not be seen in isolation, but as a catalyst for tourism with high purchasing power, capable of generating foreign exchange, specialized jobs and high-level infrastructure.
A high-end investor does not just invest in one venture. He invests in the stability of the country that receives him.
2. Diagnosis and expectations regarding government restructuring
The creation of a new administrative architecture in Venezuela arouses interest in international markets. Currently, foreign investors evaluate three fundamental factors before committing large volumes of capital:
- Legal predictability: clear rules on licenses, concessions and fees, without depending on discretionary political decisions.
- Fiscal sustainability: a tax environment that allows return on investment (ROI) within competitive deadlines and facilitates the repatriation of capital.
- Institutional agility: modern public bodies that act as facilitators and not as bureaucratic obstacles.
3. Winners CA and its technical contribution
The company’s proposal is not limited to consultancy. It is based on three operational and legal pillars:
A. Legal Evolution → Capital Stability Contracts
B. Operational Protection → Surveillance Technologies (Audit)
C. Economic Agreement → Return and Reinvestment Models
A. Normative evolution: legal stability contracts
High-end foreign capital requires guarantees against regulatory risks. The proposal is to collaborate in the drafting of Legal Stability Contracts, a mechanism used in some of the most developed economies in the world.
These contracts would guarantee, by law, stable conditions for the investor for periods between 10 and 15 years, reducing uncertainty and regulatory fluctuations.
B. Real-time operational optimization and control
A modern regulatory framework replaces invasive in-person inspections with digital audit systems.
Based on its technical experience, Winners proposes the integration of casino platforms and online entertainment rooms directly into government servers. The model would guarantee:
- Transparent and automated monitoring of gross revenue from betting operations (Gross Gaming Revenue – GGR);
- Prevention of illicit activities through international AML/KYC protocols;
- Institutional security for the government and operational transparency for businesspeople.
C. Recommendations for a mutually beneficial economic agreement
To transform these intentions into concrete contracts and projects, the company recommends the following measures to the new government cabinet:
- Create Special Tourist Development Zones (ZDTE): delimit areas of high tourist potential for the installation of hotel complexes with integrated casinos, offering incentives for importing state-of-the-art entertainment technology.
- Implement progressive taxation models: replace high taxes with a system that relates the tax burden to the volume of investments made in tourism infrastructure, hotels and urban mobility.
- Guarantee capital repatriation and financial security: create transparent exchange and financial mechanisms that allow free convertibility and transfer of dividends through official banking channels.
Strategic conclusion
Legal security should not be seen as a concession from the State to the private investor. This is one of the most accessible and profitable investments to position Venezuela as a VIP destination for regional entertainment.
Times are changing for Venezuela, and investments in various sectors of the economy are beginning to gain ground. Winners claims to be prepared to support new investors from the first meetings with government authorities, through economic studies, definition of suitable areas, commercial environment projects and team training in accordance with the highest international standards.
Soraya de Lucci highlights that this is the ideal time to start projects and consolidate investments in the betting, tourism and hotel sectors in the country.