Good news for Czech people – a new luxury casino might be built at the airport in Prague. On May 9th, two new projects were presented at a public hearing in Tuchoměřice, a small town of some 1,500 residents in the Prague-West District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic.  

Two new facilities:

The first project was proposed by GPC Win a.c. which wants to build a new Grand Arena facility that might become home to international poker tournaments. There would be 140 gaming tables, as well as 25 roulette and blackjack tables. Additionally, 400 slot machines would be available in the facility. For the guests who want to stay the night, a luxurious hotel with 72 rooms will be available. For the complete experience, in the hotel, the guests will have the opportunity to enjoy various restaurants and bars.

The second project that was discussed at the hearing would reportedly be situated in Tuchoměřice. A billionaire named Karel Pražák is the owner of Kaprain, the company which possesses the biggest outlet and entertainment center in the whole of Central Europe. That center is situated at POP Airport, which is an outlet and entertainment center located near Prague’s Václav Havel Airport. This new facility will be situated just behind it.

Since POP already offers various services, from international brands’ stores to Majaland, a famous entertainment center and amusement park, as well as the Dinosauria museum, which is famous all over the world because of its 200-million-years old exhibits and 90% original dinosaur bones, this will be a perfect place to build a new casino resort and enable the customers to really have it all at the one place.

Additionally, the investor is planning to build the outdoor section of the amusement park, as well as an aquapark. But the residents aren’t so happy about these developments – they are afraid that the new casino will negatively affect their small town. They are concerned about safety and if the opening of the casino will lead to increasing problems such as crime, prostitution, and social problems, as well as disturbing the peace at night.

Along with that, they are afraid that the casino will negatively impact the local economy and employment. However, the authorities expect that the revenue from the casino will be up to CZK 100 million per year, which will greatly benefit the town’s economy.

The company that will build the casino is completely Czech-owned and operated. It’s reliable and long-established. At the hearing, the company’s representatives tried to calm the residents down by claiming that the visitors of the casino would be rich people who only wanted to enjoy the game, not make any fuss. They also discussed the numbers, claiming that the recent statistics didn’t show any connections between the casinos and increased crime rates.