Following the Province of Ontario’s easing of its health and safety restrictions, casinos across the province are preparing to reopen. Casino Rama is one such venue and its management recently announced that the property is primed and ready to welcome back its patrons on January 31, 2022.
Ontario moved into a modified step 2 of its business reopening plan on January 5, 2022. This development followed increased cases of the new COVID-19 variant across the province and resulted in the closure of most venues like casinos, bars, and restaurants until at least January 26.
Doors Open
Gateway Casinos & Entertainment, the operator of various gaming properties both in and outside of Ontario, revealed that its venue would be running at 50% of its maximum guest capacity once it reopens on January 31.
Robert Mitchell, the Director of Communications and Public Affairs for Gateway Casinos & Entertainment expressed how enthused the company is to be reopening its gaming property again and is looking forward to welcoming back its staff.
Returning players will be able to enjoy the venue’s slot machines and table games, however, the centre bar will only be back in business from February 21, when alcohol is again permitted on the gaming floor. The stage will come alive again around March 14 when the entertainment centre is scheduled to reopen.
Niagara Falls Reopening
Both Casino Niagara and Fallsview Casino and Resort will also welcome patrons again from the end of the month with the Mayor of Niagara Falls, Jim Diodati, sharing that he is thrilled at this development as many of the 4000-plus people employed by both properties will be able to get back to work.
Diodati added that both casinos had made every effort to ensure that their respective environments are prepared and safe to welcome guests again. The City of Niagara Falls benefits from hosting the casinos within its territory in the form of quarterly revenue-sharing payments from the OLG.
The closures across 2020 and 2021 of Casino Niagara and Fallsview Casino and Resort, therefore, negatively impacted the city’s budget. Since 2020, Niagara Falls has lost close to $19.1 million due to the waves of closures with financial experts warning that this number is likely to increase if further closures are deemed necessary in the coming months.
