Golden Palace Opens Third French Casino in Digne-les-Bains With 74 Slot Machines

^{A view of Digne-les-Bains in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, where Golden Palace has opened its third French casino. (Photo: Jean-Christophe BENOIST / Wikimedia Commons)}

Belgian operator Golden Palace has opened a casino in Digne-les-Bains, in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, its third in France. The venue welcomed its first guests on 5 November, the company said on its corporate news page.

It joins the group’s casinos in Boulogne-sur-Mer and Noirétable. G3 Newswire reported that a fourth French venue, in Thonon-les-Bains, is due to open in the first quarter of 2027.

What the Casino Offers

The Casino Golden Palace Digne-les-Bains sits at 38 avenue des Thermes, about five minutes from the town centre, in a wood-and-glass building designed to blend into the landscape at the foot of the Haute-Provence mountains. It opens every day from 10 a.m.

Golden Palace says more than 90 machines and gaming stations are on offer across 1,200 square metres. That includes 74 slot machines, electronic roulette and blackjack, and two traditional Blackjack tables.

Away from the gaming floor, the Rouge 32 restaurant offers a sit-down meal, and the Salle Gold room hosts events. To mark the opening, Club VIP members can enter a prize draw until 14 November for a chance to win one of four Gold statuses.

Jobs and the Local Angle

The opening has created 32 jobs, 90% of them filled by local people from Digne-les-Bains and the surrounding département, according to Golden Palace. Teams from Belgium and France worked together on the project, which the company described as rooted in its region.

G3 Newswire reported that the group holds an 18-year public service delegation agreement for the project. Under that kind of arrangement, a French municipality grants a casino operator the right to run the venue for a fixed term, typically with commitments on local investment and activities.

Golden Palace opened the building site to visitors in April, while construction was still under way, ahead of the November opening. The company has since said the venue welcomed its first guests on 5 November.

A Busy Market for French Casinos

France’s land-based casino sector has seen plenty of deal activity this year. The competition authority recently cleared Banijay Gaming’s acquisition of casino group Joa, one of the country’s larger operators.

The wider market is also changing. Operators and regulators are working through tax changes and the question of online casino legalisation, as set out in our look at what lies ahead for the French gambling market.

Golden Palace’s opening notice carries a responsible gaming message, including the number of the French helpline (09 74 75 13 13), as is standard for casino marketing in the country. The company has not published revenue or visitor targets for the new Digne-les-Bains casino.

The company gave no opening-day attendance figures. Its notice instead stresses the local angle, the range of gaming on offer and the opening draw for Club VIP members, which runs until 14 November.

With the Digne-les-Bains venue open, attention turns to Thonon-les-Bains, where the group is preparing a fourth French casino. For now, Golden Palace’s French portfolio stretches from the Opal Coast in the north to Auvergne and now Provence in the south.