Dreams and Corporación Meier lobby Viña del Mar’s mayor following failed casino tender
Lobbying records show Dreams and Corporación Meier met Viña del Mar mayor Macarena Ripamonti in September, weeks after the city's casino tender drew no bidders.
Two of Chile's most active casino operators have taken their case directly to Viña del Mar's mayor, Macarena Ripamonti, weeks after the city's casino tender drew no bidders in August. Lobby-law records show Claudio Fischer, the businessman behind the Dreams casino group, met Ripamonti in person on September 2 to present investment projects for the commune. On September 11 she met Lientur Fuentealba Meier of Corporación Meier in a session listed as covering tender processes.
People familiar with the meetings said the talks ranged across the industry, including online gaming, and included objections to rules requiring a fixed economic offer for 15 years regardless of economic cycles. The minimum economic offer for Viña del Mar was set at 394,000 UF, roughly CLP16.2bn or about US$16.5m, a level several operators had publicly called too high before the tender closed.
The process was triggered by Enjoy's resignation of the Ciudad Jardín permit. The current casino can operate until 2028, giving the Superintendencia de Casinos de Juego room to restructure the process, though the regulator still lacks a permanent head. Dreams has argued that five of seven tenders resolved in 2026 ended without an awardee, while Meier has said regulatory uncertainty is weighing on its investment plans in Chile.
