European Smoking Ban

European Smoking Ban

The European hospitality and entertainment sector is soon to be greeted by the most comprehensive change in revenue since the pub, bar, and club industry was founded. Where New York, Belfast and Glasgow have gone, London – and the rest of the UK – will follow with a comprehensive smoking ban to take effect on July 1st 2007.

For amusement in hospitality the planned move will leave AWP, SWP, Touchscreen, video amusement, provolactics and snacks as the only coin operated hardware in this sector - and already the hospitality operators are looking hard to make up the shortfall that tobacco revenues' departure will leave.

The main question is can the application of amusement in the tobacco-bereft bar, club and pub sector offer a new untapped revenue stream for the trade. Already amusement in hospitality (Golden Tee, PGA Golf and Merit) has become a mainstay of UK coin-drop. But there is new technology, which hopes to expand the applications of bar trade.

In Scotland, the figures for the number of cigarette machines removed, and lost revenue is not yet available so early into their ban. On a recent visit a number of still placed machines played witness to the need to supply a still large smoking community, if not allowed to exercise their habit on the premises. The development of single cigarette vend units has also just started to appear (harking back to the birth of vending in the 1920's with the first American cigarette dispenser machines), the first units seen on trial during 2006. This has also been seen in the luxury end of the market with individual vended premium cigars - selling single smokes at a vastly inflated price offering an interesting revenue filler - if only for the short term.

One of the unusual observations from a recent Glasgow field trip was the policing of the smoke ban. A wide variety of bars, clubs and hotels visited revealed no discernable law infringements, with diminishing numbers of punters littering the sidewalks for that all essential cigarette – while the smoke-free establishments basked in increased drink and food spend in a clean atmosphere.

Seen recently at the 2006 Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in America, the need to address the issue of smoking predominantly in the American market was on display. The company Smoke Away Gaming Systems showed their ‘AT811', an ashtray device that filters the smoke from players' cigarettes. The gaming and Casino business is vast for the tobacco industry, and the idea of operators catering for the needs of smoke-free international visitors has encouraged 'smoke free' zones, building off of those schemes deployed in Airports.

A backlash of moving the smokers out of the facility and onto the sidewalk has been a danger of local government procession for the premises patrons littering. The outdoors smokers corners creating piles of butts. To address this smoke related litter and save venues from fines, the 'Cigarcatcher' by SmartBoxes offers not only a trendy mountable ashtray system, but also doubles as a place for patrons to park their stogies between puffs.

News Story with thanks to Kevin Williams, please visit www.thestingerreport.com for the full story and others.