There may be a glimmer of light at the end of Atlantic City’s long tunnel of doom but visitor numbers at the cities casinos were still down for the year 2010.
More than 26.6 million people visited casinos in the New Jersey gambling haven representing a decrease of 6.2% compared with 2009. The figures did reveal that the policy of trying to attract bigger spending high-roller customers over those described as less profitable is working.
The news that those in the ailing casino hotbed will cling onto is that the win-per-visitor decreased significantly less than it has for a while.
A survey by local consulting firm Spectrum Gaming Group found the figure to be at almost $134 last year, only down 3.6% from 2009. Who knows, at some point soon it might peek out from below the red line of doom…
Spectrum managing director Michael Pollock, commented, “It’s clear that the low-end visitor is more likely to migrate to other places. You want to replace the convenience gambler with a higher-end customer.
“But it also shows that you have the ability to hold on to your high-end visitor if you have something to offer them.
“We aren’t replacing them yet; we’re just holding on to the higher-end right now. You’d like to have both happen simultaneously.”
The release also saw that of the casinos in the city, the three in the Marina district – Borgata, Harrah’s and Trump Marina Hotel Casino, saw the most profitable customers with the average win at $142, only a small decrease of 1% from 2009.
The news comes as the city’s casino industry came closer than a hair’s width of breaking a run of 30 months in the red. It was also this month that the state was on the verge of allowing an internet gambling act only for it to be vetoed at the last minute by Governor Chris Chrisitie.
Maybe they just need a gimmick to get the show back on the road but right now if the percentages keep getting smaller they might have themselves a big party come…err…2015?
