An experienced gaming executive (who I once worked for at the Trump Taj Mahal) has acquired Resorts Atlantic City, and a former Resorts exec has some advice. From the AC Press:
One of the executives who oversaw Resorts Atlantic City during its 1970s heyday said the money-losing casino should transform itself into a convention haven as part of its turnaround strategy under new ownership.Steve Norton, who now serves as a private gaming consultant, said more conventions would fill the hotel rooms with lucrative customers and offset the typically slow midweek business cycles that plague Resorts and other casinos in town.
I’d like to think that everyone in the industry is aware of the “load balancing” that conventions provide–Vegas casinos have been doing this since the 1950s. But if people need to be reminded of that, so much the better that they hear it. But I would assume that any big casino’s going to be doing some kind of yield management with their rooms to maximize their revenues from business travelers, FITs, and casino guests. But looking at the performance of a lot of the Atlantic City casinos lately, maybe not.
The bigger question is: how do you position the city’s oldest casino in a business where being the newest usually has a premium? I know of only two casinos that actively trade on their history, or pedigree, and those are the Golden Gate and (more and more) the El Cortez in Downtown Las Vegas. In both cases, it’s a smart way to use an asset that your neighbors don’t have or (in the Nugget’s case) don’t want to use.
The property isn’t going to compete with Borgata, Caesars, the Taj, or Harrah’s in flashiness, but that’s OK. There are plenty of people who want a less-frenetic time “down the shore,” and Resorts might be able to capture this crowd–the people who feel underserved because they don’t want to go to bottle service nightclubs or listen to booming bass while they play quarter slots. They’re good casino customers, and there’s a lot of them: the key is making sure they drive to Atlantic City.
I’ll trot out a few of my suggestions for getting people in the door:
1. Free parking and free slot play in the amount of tolls/EZpass receipts for out-of state customers. I laid this out a few months ago, and I still think it’s a good idea. If they’re in your database, you’ve got their zipcode. It shouldn’t be hard to figure out how much they pay in tolls, so you wouldn’t even have to make them show receipts to you. We’re talking $30 or so in slot freeplay here, not really anything that’s going to break the bank, particularly when you consider that no one’s going to drive down, play $30, and leave right away. Sure, you might get some scammers who pack 6 to a car and take advantage, but this isn’t necessarily the worst thing: you’ve got people in your casino who think they’re playing with house money. If you’ve got a half-way decent casino, you should be able to keep them there.
2. Play up a more sedate, more sophisticated image. Sure, in the casino world this is subjective, but with the right packaging an anti-”Jersey Shore” campaign could go a long way.
3. A vintage slot section, with favorite games from way back. Others have done this, and it draws a crowd
Those are just three ideas, off the top of my head, without having been on the Resorts floor in a year or so and without any inside knowledge of what their customer database looks like.
In other words, I think there’s a lot Gomes & company can do with this property. I wish them luck.
I think you’re right on with the free parking idea. The problem is that the casino still has to pay the state $2 for every car that drives into their property, but if that encourages repeat visitors, why not? Remember, the success of Harrah’s Atlantic City in the beginning was free parking at a time when there were only surface lots on the other 4-5 casinos at the time.
But the other two ideas have been tried and rejected. Resorts itself tried the vintage slot thing about a year ago and it was a dismal failure. The sophisticated image might work for an individual casino, but not for the city. “Always Turned On” is a successful slogan because it connotes excitement and action.
While people think Resorts is an old hotel, half of the 900 rooms are in a new tower that was built AFTER the Borgata opened and are actually as nice or nicer than those rooms. Get the word out about that tower and you might have success.
As for the historical angle, I’m not sure Resorts can survive on that. Nice touch, but not a main focus as it is with Golden Gate and El Cortez. Remember, the Cal Neva in Lake Tahoe tried to trade on its rich history and failed miserably. Very difficult thing to do….
Pingback: Last Resorts? Colony wins one | Stiffs and Georges
Would you schedule your convention in a stately old hotel with what you perceived to be less than state of the art audio-visual and networking infrastructure in the convention/exhibit area?
When are hotels/casinos going to try to stop marketing themselves based on fluff or fads or fantasies? You’ve got a casino and you’ve got hotel rooms. Neither is much different from other places in town.
Tolls are annoying. Toll rebates are soothing band-aids for the taxpayer’s ego. So a zipcode based rebate of Average Toll Payment automatically added to your players club card (no receipts, no forms, no fuss) would work. Free parking would work. Anything of substance would work but squishing the casino to make room for some burger joint is foolish. Its the casino that makes the money. You want mid week visitors: open a hot dog cart. It has a small footprint and at two dollars people won’t leave the casino for long.
This is what Gomes needs to do with Resorts:
1) Gut the old tower(s) – the Rendezvous Tower rooms are tremendous and one of AC’s less known deals. The elevators in the old tower, while quaint, are inadequate.
2) Build off of the success of their club – Boogie Nights. Why not bring in Philadelphia’s TSOP on a regular basis in the show room. If not, put together some 70s disco revue.
3) Market towards the middle class, middle age, gambler. All of the casinos in AC seem to be geared towards the young party animals. They may not pay a couple hundred for bottle service, but are willing to spend money.
4) Add some family friendly attractions: bowling, movie theater, and indoor miniature golf come to mind.
5) Bring in some chain restaurants like an Outback, Texas Roadhouse, or Bugaboo Creek. Also, more casual like a Chili’s or TGI Fridays. Start over with their buffet. Not everyone wants a high-end meal. A common complaint I hear about AC is that there’s no inexpensive places to eat.
6) Finish the casino floor remodel. There’s still sections that are worn and tired looking.
7) Add a day-time show similar to Mac King at Harrah’s in LV. Day time shows may be an incentive to help bring back some day-trippers.
All very interesting ideas. Dave 202 has some good points. I actually played their Boogie Nights slot machines which brought back coins. They were not placed well and I believe Resorts feedback was that they were not very feasible because players were not cashing in their coins! They were keeping them as souvenirs.
Dennis has a monumental task ahead of him, but as with you Dr. Dave, I certainly wish him success. I would sincerely enjoy seeing a revitalization of that property and Dennis Gomes may just be the man to do it.