Atlantic City’s attractions expand beyond gambling
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Atlantic City’s efforts to recapture some of the tourism dollars it has lost to casino competition in recent years finally appear to be working.
Nine years ago, the city’s casinos started realizing they needed to offer more than just gambling if they still wanted visitors. They doubled down on expensive investments like more hotel towers, restaurants, swimming pools, spas, shopping, nightclubs and concert venues.
Now, cash sales at nongambling outlets within casinos represent 28.5 percent of revenue, up from 22.3 percent two years ago, and bars have increased their payrolls by nearly 39 percent in the past two years, according to a recent study conducted by the consulting firm Tourism Economics and commissioned by the Atlantic City Alliance, which promotes the resort to other parts of the country. The study didn’t address profits, but many casinos have reported upturns in profits after adding extras.
“I’m not really a gambler,” said Brandon Ferguson, of Oaklyn, N.J. “I don’t like to give my money away; I like it to work for me. I like to chill on the beach, enjoy some good food, do some sightseeing and peoplewatching.”
He was one of many who turned out in late June for the opening of The Playground, developer Bart Blatstein’s $52 million remake of the former Pier Shops complex into a music-themed entertainment facility. Its main attraction is T Street, a row of musicthemed bars and performance venues meant to evoke Nashville’s Music Row: a honky-tonk here, a retro ’80s bar there, an outdoor beer garden, and of course, an Irish pub. A large concert space at the end of the pier can hold 2,000 fans, as well as meetings or even a wedding.
For nearly 30 years, Atlantic City’s casinos drove busloads of people to their doors, let them play the slot machines or table games for a few hours, and sent them home. It worked fine — until other casinos started popping up nearby, and suddenly people could drive 20 minutes to play the same slot machines and table games that otherwise would be a three- or fourhour round trip.
Even with the extras, the city’s casino revenue continues to plunge, from its high of $5.2 billion in 2006 to $2.74 billion last year, as competition from casinos in neighboring states continued unabated. Four of the city’s 12 casinos closed last year. The remaining gambling halls need to replace that money.
A poll released in June by Fairleigh Dickinson University found that nongambling attractions are the most important factor for most New Jerseyans in choosing a casino to visit; 40 percent listed it as their main priority.
Casino executives say the extras are helping.
The Tropicana casino spent $50 million on renovations this year on top of $25 million in 2012. When billionaire investor Carl Icahn bought the casino out of bankruptcy in 2010, it posted an operating loss of nearly $4 million. In 2014, that had swung to a $59.8 million profit.