Gaming
Shaping the future of the casino industry
16th August 2022
The International Casino Exhibition (ICE) and European Casino Association (ECA) Symposium held at Les Ambassadeurs Club, brought together the world’s most influential casino leaders
THE first ICE ECA Summer Symposium was held at Les Ambassadeurs Club this summer. The gathering of c-suite casino executives explored key drivers in the industry, including cashless technology and digitisation of the industry.
Operators came together to help ‘fashion and inspire’ the future of the casino industry, according to Stuart Hunter, managing director at Clarion Gaming which runs ICE, and Per Jaldung, chairman of the ECA. They said: ‘We developed the concept of a Summer Symposium to provide an environment in which the industry could continue the process of planning for ICE London 2023.’
The idea of the Symposium was that topics were chosen by participants and reflected the wide-ranging issues casinos are grappling with. Topics ranged from Casino as Entertainment, through to Workforce and Talent. For Per Jaldung, the key discussion points were around responsible gaming, money laundering and new technology.
Stuart Hunter calculated that over 1,000 years of combined experience was brought together for the discussions, which will help shape the industry. He said: ‘This was thought leadership of the highest level and all subject matter, ideas and opportunities are already being fed into the final planning stages for ICE 2023. They will impact the product mix on the show floor, the customer experience, learning and engagement delivered at ICE VOX, new feature initiatives and enhanced opportunities for hosted meetings.’
Tracy Damestani, chief corporate affairs officer for Ambassadeurs Group, said it was an honour for Les A to host the first ICE ECA Summer Symposium and to show international peers the heritage premises, which she described as ‘a major architectural London landmark’.
‘In terms of the Symposium itself it was an important and valuable undertaking made by Clarion Gaming and the ECA,’ she continued. ‘We talked at length about some of the macro issues and challenges that the casino sector faces and it was crucial to be able to get an international perspective to help prepare for ICE – the most international business event for our industry.’
