Top casino executives discuss future of gaming at ICE Summer Symposium
The event – held at Les Ambassadeurs in London – allowed a number of c-level executives to discuss a variety of topics about the future of the gaming industry and ICE London. It made use of the “open space” model, in which discussion topics are chosen by participants.
Clarion Gaming managing director Stuart Hunter noted that the executives involved had more than 1,000 combined years of experience in the sector.
“On behalf of everyone associated with the ICE brand I would like to say how energising it was to participate in an initiative alongside stakeholders who have such depth of knowledge and insight,” he said.
“I calculated that we had over 1,000-years of combined experience in the room all feeding ideas, opinions and proposals into the discussions.
“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.”
European Casino Association chairman Per Jaldung said that responsible gaming, money laundering and new technology were key discussion points.
“This was a really wonderful day and thanks are due to Clarion and to Les A as well as the industry leaders who took time out of extremely busy schedules,” he said. “I think this illustrates how important an event the symposium was.
“All of our conversations centred around the future of land-based casinos – what they will look like, what entertainment they will provide and who their customers will be. Significantly there was a common focus on responsible gaming, anti-money laundering and new opportunities for enhanced and seamless customer experience through technology and digitalisation.
“It was also great to see that diversity and inclusion was on the table throughout the day, and regarded as being a critical aspect when we look at our business going forward. These are all fundamental discussions that we need to have ahead of ICE and for the industry to use the opportunity provided by ICE to navigate the route forward.”
Meanwhile, Tracy Damestani, chief corporate affairs officer for Ambassadeurs Group, said that she was proud that Les Ambassadeurs was used as the site of the symposium.
“It was a great honour for Les A to host the first ICE ECA Summer Symposium and for me to be able to show the international guests our stunning heritage premises which is a major architectural London landmark,” she said.
“In terms of the symposium itself I think it was an important and valuable undertaking made by Clarion Gaming and the ECA. 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 in order to help us all prepare for ICE – the most international business event for our industry.”