Las Vegas
Certainly, no destination better represents the marriage between gambling and tourism than Las Vegas, Nevada. In the early 1990s the city began a drive to make itself more family friendly. Focus shifted from an adult playground to a family destination. This change was driven by a steep decline in revenues. According to abcnews.com, the city's gambling revenues dropped by nearly $500 million in 1992 in the face of competition from legal gambling on riverboats and tribal casinos. During the 1990s the casinos spent $12 billion to refurbish almost every hotel on the Strip to include entertainment. Theme hotels became the big draw
During this shift to family entertainment, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors' Authority focused advertising on families. Topless shows along the Strip gave way to magic shows, circus events, and carnival rides. The result was a huge increase in visitors. However, casino owners noticed that the change did not bring in more gambling revenue. Children distracted their parents from gambling or were left unattended.
During the late 1990s, the city's image began to change again. According to USA Today, the casinos began getting serious competition from strip clubs located off the Strip, which were bringing in millions of dollars from conventioneers. Adult entertainment along the Strip made a comeback. Casino/hotels began offering more topless and nude shows. This shift back to adult entertainment was why the MGM Grand shut down its family theme park in 2001. "We pretended to be a family destination," said the president of the MGM Grand in an interview in February 2002. He indicated that the new focus on the Strip would likely be gambling, drinking, and sex. However, casino managers insist that the nudity presented at their casinos is tasteful and artistic. They are anxious not to offend shareholders of their parent corporations or alienate women, potential gamblers who make up nearly 60% of Las Vegas visitors.
Besides its image problems, Las Vegas faces other challenges as well. The city is much more dependent on air travelers than many other gambling enterprises and was hard hit by the travel slowdown following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In addition, Las Vegas casinos rely heavily on visitors from California. With the advent of tribal gaming in California, Las Vegas casinos face stiff competition in their own backyard.
Mississippi
According to Mississippi officials, tourism contributed more than $6 billion to the state's economy in 2000. The tourist industry created more than 94,000 jobs and contributed $482 million to Mississippi's general fund tax revenues. The state's casinos are a major weekend destination, particularly for those within driving distance.
A 1999 study conducted by D.K. Shifflet & Associates found that casinos were the top activity attracting visitors to Mississippi that year. Gaming was selected by 46% of respondents, compared to other entertainment options (32%), dining (25%), shopping (21%), and sightseeing (15%).
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Tourism in Atlantic City, New Jersey, was improved by the introduction of casino gambling, but not as fast or to such a degree as people had hoped. From the 1880s to the 1940s, Atlantic City was a major tourist destination, particularly for people living in the Northeast. Visitors came for the beaches and to walk along the town's board-walk and piers, which featured carnival-like entertainment. During the 1950s and 1960s, the town suffered a severe slump in tourism as people began traveling south to warmer beaches in Florida and the Caribbean. Because tourism had always been the town's major industry, it went into an economic depression.
Casino gambling was legalized in 1976 in the hopes that the city would recapture its former glory and rival Las Vegas as a tourist destination. Progress was slow through the 1980s and early 1990s. The casinos in Atlantic City were not as flashy or as popular as those in Las Vegas. Although visitors began to come to Atlantic City, they mostly came by bus or car and stayed only for a day or two. In 1984 the state established the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA) to revitalize the city using the funds from a 1.25% tax on casino revenues.
The economic troubles that had ravaged the town's businesses before legalized gambling were not easily overcome. The casinos were surrounded by vacant lots, buildings in disrepair, and housing projects. The overall atmosphere was not particularly appealing to vacationers or convention-goers. A reporter for a West Paterson, New Jersey, newspaper described the city in 1993 as "trapped in a web of poverty and blight" (Mike Kelly, "Gambling with Our Future: City Poised to Hit Jackpot, or Lose Everything," The Record, July 1, 1993). At that time, the typical visitor was a retiree who arrived by bus and stayed only for the day. According to Kelly, Atlantic City's thirty million annual visitors actually represented about five million people making multiple trips.
In the late 1990s initiatives by CRDA and other groups began to pay off as hundreds of new homes were built and commercial businesses were established. A thirty-one-acre convention center, one of the largest in the country, opened in May 1997. The city's image began to improve, and tourism showed a moderate surge. City and casino officials cite three factors as limiting tourist growth in Atlantic City:
- Lack of a major airport
- Lack of usable land
- Cold winters
The president of the Casino Association of New Jersey was quoted in 2001 as saying, "While we can never be a worldwide destination like Las Vegas, we can become a regional destination" (William H. Sokolic, Courier-Post, July 15, 2001).
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