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Low
Year Means Regrouping for Casinos
With the
influx of slot machines coming into
Pennsylvania and other neighboring
states, Atlantic City has felt the
pinch. They are bringing in less slot
machine revenue than ever before, and
because of this they are aware that they
are going to have to make some changes
in how they do business.
Some casinos actually did better, but
most saw their slot machine revenues
drop once again over this last quarter,
and in the city’s 29 year history they
have never seen an annual revenue
decline like this. They say that with
the additional slot machines coming in,
and now the partial smoking ban that has
gone into effect; the casinos are
hurting more than ever.
Last year the casinos saw their total
revenue drop 5.7% to bring in $4.92
billion. Over the previous 28 years, the
casinos had always shown an increase
over the year before so it is
understandably daunting now for them to
see where they could be headed. With
smokers still allowed in the PA casinos,
it only gives their old customers more
of a reason to stay away instead of
making the trip.
That is not to say that some don’t come
because it is now smoke free in many
areas of the casino, but that number is
not enough to combat the business they
are losing. With a drop of close to $1
million over the previous year, and no
idea of where they might end up this
year, it could turn out to be a very
scary year for the casinos overall.
There is hope however, as many of the
casinos are looking at where they are
and taking steps to change it. They
expect that with the changes that they
are making that they could see revenue
go up about 2% this year, especially
since they are adding many more hotel
rooms that will have numerous amenities
for those that are staying there. They
hope that this will help draw more of
their clients back as well as entice new
ones.
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