Svenska Spel reopens three Casino Cosmopol sites after Covid closures

The operator has reopened its locations in Malmö, Gothenburg and Stockholm. The fourth Casino Cosmopol site, in Sundsvall, was closed permanently in August due to a decline in profits and footfall.

All four sites were closed temporarily in March 2020, in line with government-ordered measures issued in response to the pandemic.

Svenska Spel said it has prepared for a safe and secure reopening by implementing a number of new measures, including enhance cleaning, social distancing, refurnishing to avoid congestion and additional training for employees.

Customers will now be offered cash-free table gaming and Carded Play, by which membership cards are used to operate slot machines.

We are very happy to be able to welcome both our guests and employees back again, and we do it in a safe and secure way in accordance with the authorities’ recommendations,” said Per Jaldung, chief executive of Casino Cosmopol.

“There is a pent-up need in people to be seen for real after over a year with the pandemic. We are happy to offer a meeting place where people can be seen and have fun together. We have been ready to start and prepared to open on several occasions over the past year, but have then had to back down when the spread of infection has increased again.”

Results published in March showed that growth in online gaming revenue had offset a significant portion of the declines caused by land-based closures in Sweden last year.

Gambling revenue for the full year 2020 came to SEK24.69bn (£2.11bn/€2.44bn/€2.93bn) in the jurisdiction, down just 0.4% from 2019, despite land-based venues bringing in no revenue for most of the period.