\nHoward Stutz<\/p>\n
\tImagine the dilemma in trying to market Atlantic City to the world.<\/p>\n
\tOne casino closed in January. Three of the remaining 11 resorts could be shuttered by September.<\/p>\n
\tAtlantic City gaming revenue fell to $2.8 billion in 2013, the Boardwalk\u2019s lowest total since 1989.<\/p>\n
\tAlmost daily, headlines concerning the market\u2019s demise appear in the nation\u2019s top media outlets, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times.<\/p>\n
\tThe investment community has also soured on Atlantic City.<\/p>\n
\tEarlier this week, Moody\u2019s Investor Service cited \u201cweakened tax base, revenue-raising ability and broader economic outlook\u201d in its most recent Atlantic City downgrade.<\/p>\n
\tWelcome to Jeff Guaracino\u2019s world.<\/p>\n
\tAs chief strategy and communications officer for the Atlantic City Alliance \u2014 the agency charged with marketing the seaside resort community since 2011 \u2014 Guaracino remains upbeat on the positive trends that have emerged despite the recent slew of bad news.<\/p>\n
\tHe points to facts often been missed.<\/p>\n
\tWeekends have been busy on the Boardwalk in the summer months. Hotel room rates are on an upswing and occupancy has been strong.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThere is a misconception that declining gaming revenue means no one is there and that\u2019s damaging,\u201d Guaracino said. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to fix that. We can show that the hotel rooms are filled, the Boardwalk is filled and the third party businesses are seeing double-digit increases in revenue. Gaming revenue is a challenge and no one is arguing that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tAtlantic City is also slowly diversifying. Last year, the beachfront Margaritaville restaurant and gaming area opened at Resorts Atlantic City. The Claridge, which was closed under Caesars Entertainment\u2019s ownership, reopened as a non-gaming boutique hotel and is charging up to $300 a night for a room.<\/p>\n
\tThe Walk, an outlet mall adjacent to the Boardwalk casinos, continues to attract customers.<\/p>\n
\tGround was broken recently on a Bass Pro Shops outdoor sporting goods location that will open next year. Harrah\u2019s Atlantic City is building a $126 million convention center.<\/p>\n
\tAtlantic City marketers are promoting two free concerts next week on specially-built stages outside Caesars Atlantic City featuring country music stars Blake Shelton and Lady Antebellum.<\/p>\n
\tIn a statement last month, Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian said nongaming revenue is increasing and jobs are being created through construction projects.<\/p>\n
\tGuaracino said the Alliance \u2014 a nonprofit created as part of New Jersey\u2019s 2011 legislation to re-position Atlantic City \u2014 is also planning to beef up its midweek convention business through a marketing effort.<\/p>\n
\tHe is also quick to point out that the Atlantic City Alliance, which is funded through a $30 million annual assessment to the casinos and operates under a marketing agreement with the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, is only in the middle of its five-year master plan.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cEveryone, from the mayor, to the state, to the governor, to the port authority, wants a perfect destination,\u201d Guaracino said. \u201cFor 30 years, Atlantic City has been a successful marketplace. We are all trying to continue that goal.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tGuaracino was in Las Vegas to attend the Destination Marketing Association International convention at Aria.<\/p>\n
\tLast week, three Atlantic City-area state lawmakers said they want the New Jersey casino regulators to force Showboat owner Caesars Entertainment Corp. and the owners of the Trump Plaza to keep their respective resorts open for another four months so new buyers could be sought.<\/p>\n
\tThe Showboat is slated to close on Aug. 31 while the Trump Plaza has said it would shut down on Sept, 19. Meanwhile, operators of the bankrupt Revel said the casino will close unless a buyer is found through an Aug. 6 auction.<\/p>\n
\tCoupled with the Atlantic Club closing in January, Atlantic City could lose one-fourth of its resorts in a year.<\/p>\n
\tGuaracino said the only positive from any casino closing is that gaming business would transfer to another casino property. He said the city is trying to determine the best number of casinos for the market to operate profitably.<\/p>\n
\tSince 2006, Atlantic City\u2019s annual gaming revenue has tumbled roughly 55 percent, a reflection of the sour U.S. economy, casino competition from neighboring states and lack of attention by state and city leaders.<\/p>\n
\tOne effort is to make the Boardwalk less reliant on gaming revenue. Guaracino pointed out that 77 percent of all revenue in Atlantic City came from gaming. The figure was down to 71 percent in 2013.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWe\u2019re advertising and still showing effectiveness,\u201d Guaracino said. \u201cWe\u2019re moving the needle in the right direction.<\/p>\n
No replies were posted for this topic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Howard Stutz Imagine the dilemma in trying to market Atlantic City to the world. One casino closed in January. Three of the remaining 11 resorts could be shuttered by September. Atlantic City gaming revenue fell to $2.8 billion in 2013,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-casino-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7738\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}