COMPANIES From the country that pioneered the modern form of lottery 500 years ago and whose Christmas tradition is to play tombola – bingo – it should come as no surprise that Italians are not letting recession get in the way of a growing national affection for gambling.
Despite three consecutive quarters of economic contraction, Italy’s total gaming market is still forecast to grow 12.5 per cent for the full 2008 year to €47.5bn ($65.9bn). That translates into more than €800 waged by every man, woman and child. And that is just the legal market.
