Not just for gambling anymore: Atlantic City aims for 'destination resort' status
Poor old Atlantic City lost its bid to become the first gambling mecca in the United States to offer legal online gambling. It is still recovering from the devastation of last year's Hurricane Sandy; in recent years, his revenue stream has been meager by casino standards. Now, the Atlantic City Alliance, an organization formed as part of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's 2011 Atlantic City reform package, is tasked with turning this dying dinosaur into a reborn swan, and there's certainly more work ahead of them. There is a lot of work to be done.
The league, which has a $30 million marketing budget funded entirely by casino profits, must find a way to attract more people despite facing stiff competition from land-based casinos in neighboring states such as Pennsylvania, New York and Maryland. casino. Once they arrive, they must incentivize these institutions to spend, spend, spend; but not necessarily just at slot machines and craps tables. No, the new vision positions AC as a "resort destination" where people attend high-profile entertainers, buy luxury goods, lounge poolside while watching hot girls in bikinis, and buy bottles of wine at about a 1,000% markup, just like Like them in Paradigm, Las Vegas.
Obstacles to Overcome
Of course, given the more volatile and shorter summer weather at East Coast pools, the latter are more limited than their Las Vegas counterparts (which have had great success creating daytime poolside "clubs"). However, there are signs that the luxury retail side may be good for AC, as luxury goods sales tax revenue increased slightly in 2012. Overall, the seaside gambling mecca's non-gaming revenue rose nearly 3 percent last year; by comparison, actual gaming revenue has fallen sharply in 54 of the past 56 months, according to the city's Gaming Enforcement Division. In April 2013 alone, gaming revenue at Atlantic City's 12 casinos fell 12.1 percent from the same period last year to just $228.5 million; a drop in the ocean by casino industry standards.
Oriental Las Vegas?
There's no question that AC is pursuing what has worked for a while in Las Vegas. The question is whether it also works for New Jersey destinations. After all, Atlantic City has never been able to capture the glamor or sexiness of the Las Vegas experience, and lord knows they've tried.
"We need to reinvent ourselves as a resort destination like Las Vegas did in the '90s," said Kevin Ortzman, general manager of Caesars Atlantic City, who also Operates Bally's Atlantic City and Showboat. "We need to highlight our nightlife, restaurants, beaches and promenade. We are more than just games."
Last year's ad campaign had a subtle tagline of "Do AC," and featured non-game-related moments.
Maybe this year should be called "We Work Harder."
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Source: www.casino.org
