This is a feature discussion regarding the smoking ban that is coming into effect in England on July 1st affecting all bingo halls, casinos, and working men's clubs, which are all private members clubs. Please feel free to contribute and express your opinion or experiences regarding this issue whether you are in favour of the ban and against it. We aim to give a balanced view and to publish opinions we receive.
One characteristic of many a bingo hall and casino across the UK is the sight of large numbers of players puffing away at their cigarettes. Whereas this has become a politically incorrect activity and is less socially acceptable in more and more places, bingo halls, casinos, and working men’s clubs have up to now been the last bastion for smokers to unreservedly enjoy their habit.
All this is about to drastically change on July 1st 2007 when the Government legislation to ban smoking in all public places in England including private members clubs takes effect. With any big change comes uncertainty, so what effects will the smoking ban have on the player numbers in casinos and bingo halls across England?
Industry members are worried following the smoking ban in Scotland where the figures have taken a dip. Rank reported a 10% drop in admissions, 7% decrease in spend per head, and a 17% drop in turnover. This in turn negatively affected prize money and possibly caused a negative feedback in terms of player numbers. Outside shelters are the only places where smoking is permitted but by law they can only be at most 50% covered, which is not very pleasant in the harsh British climate for most of the year. In addition to this smokers were less likely to play the slot machines between bingo games, a lucrative activity for the bingo halls, and instead opted to smoke outside. This decreased spend per head and all these pressures have caused many bingo halls in Scotland to close.
There are fears that the same could happen across England as from July 1st, although one bit of respite for the industry and for smokers is that Rank has applied for a license to allow bingo to be played in equipped outside areas, which could alleviate the problem. This however could take up to one year to be granted.
Smokers could find other avenues of entertainment where they feel free to enjoy their habit, such as playing online bingo. Although this would be at the detriment of the land based bingo halls, it is a move that smokers in general seem to increasingly favour as they would play in the comfort of their own home and still retain the social element of the game.
Blanket bans are always going to be controversial and drastic, but social pressures dictate that this is probably the only course of action available at this time. It may very well be that 2007 and perhaps 2008 will be years that bingo halls in England may wish to forget in the future. However other leisure industries such as bars and restaurants have been largely unaffected in other countries where the smoking ban has been in place such as Ireland, Italy, or Spain.
It may be that many smokers initially opt to keep away from bingo halls, but the flip side is that in time many non smoking bingo players who were once deterred by the unpleasant smoke filled atmosphere may decide to give bingo halls a new lease of life. It may well be that every cloud, even of smoke, has its’ silver lining.
What do you think?
Send us your comments on this subject. This is a moderated discussion and posts will be pre-approved.
Comments
Frank Said:
1st July 2007 @ 14:08pm
I think all private clubs should get together and refuse to enforce the
ban. They could make smoking and non-smoking areas and everyone
would be happy without the loss of revenue or jobs being an issue.
Rufus T Said:
29th May 2007 @ 18:05pm
Bingo halls are sadly indicative of the "success" of
smoking bans, just do a search on bingo smoking and closure, you get "about
120,000" hits. To give you an idea of what to expect Mecca announced
earlier this month that they're closing 10% of their clubs. The old mantra
is use them or lose them, and having been legislated out of using them,
what's left?
John C Said:
25th May 2007 @ 21.52pm
I actually stopped smoking around 18 months ago so the smoking
ban coming into affect in July will benefit me. To able to
go into pubs and restaurants and not be affected by people's
smoking is a positive for me and will be a lot more enjoyable.
As for banning smoking in casinos, bingo halls and working
men's clubs especially with them being private members clubs
is pushing it a bit too far for me. It's common knowledge
that most gamblers smoke and will affect the trade of this
industry. Most bingo halls and casinos are very well ventilated
with good air conditioning and very rarely affect the non
smoker. Let's face it, if you go in a bingo hall, the non
smoking seats are mainly empty with smokers fighting for
smoking seats. I think the bingo halls and casinos should
have fought for their rights to keep smoking. After all,
they are members clubs and if you don't like the smoke, stay
away. There are plenty of places non smokers can go. Why
change history. I was a smoker and sympathise with them.
It's not easy to quit, it's very hard. If smoking is that
bad, then it shouldn't be allowed to be sold. There comes
the hypocrisy. The government earns too much out of the
taxes to ban them altogether. That's really strange actually
because the gambling industry are made to pay 50% tax in
the UK. Surely they should have had more of a say.
