\nBy Andrea Domanick Las Vegas Sun.
\n\tOn a Tuesday morning in September, employees of Atlantic City\u2019s Trump Plaza braced themselves as news of the resort\u2019s closure arrived. The announcement was hardly unexpected, but its sting was acute.<\/p>\n
\n\tIt confirmed a sinister trend for the resort town: One-third of Atlantic City casinos have closed this year, three within the past month.<\/p>\n
\tAnd the decline is expected to continue. The Trump Taj Mahal is expected to be the fifth of the city\u2019s 12 casinos to go come November.<\/p>\n
\tMeanwhile, Las Vegas continues to bounce back, welcoming the SLS and refurbished Delano in a year marked by revitalization.<\/p>\n
\tThe two cities\u2019 challenges have been largely the same. Over the past decade, both have faced increased regional competition from tribal gaming, and both were hit hard by the economic downturn.<\/p>\n
\tSo why does Atlantic City continue to struggle while Las Vegas is on the upswing?<\/p>\n
\tAs these things go, sometimes taking a gamble pays off.<\/p>\n
\tPublic and private investment in dining, nightlife, shopping and infrastructure such as airport terminals, arenas and festival grounds has allowed Las Vegas to tap visitors whose interests extend beyond the casino floor.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThere\u2019s a $7 billion gaming industry in California that wasn\u2019t there in the year 2000,\u201d said David G. Schwartz, director of UNLV\u2019s Center for Gaming Research. \u201cLas Vegas has weathered that because they\u2019ve provided more than just the gambling.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tAtlantic City has taken a more conservative approach. Since its inception, Atlantic City\u2019s leaders have stressed the need to diversify its appeal as a tourist destination with more than just gambling. But the billions of dollars brought in from casinos each year repeatedly sidelined significant reinvestment in other attractions, which at the time was seen as too costly to be worth the risk.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cFor too long, it was too easy to rely on regional gamblers for the bulk of visitation and revenue,\u201d Schwartz said. \u201cThey were easy to get because there weren\u2019t other places to gamble.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThat began to change in the early 1990s with the arrival of tribal gaming in Connecticut.<\/p>\n
\tAlthough Atlantic City took measures to help balance the equation, such as enacting 24-hour gambling, the regulatory changes did little to help the city keep pace with casinos expanding into Delaware, New York and Pennsylvania by the mid-2000s.<\/p>\n
\tAtlantic City has seen some investment in massive resorts such as Borgata, which offers spas, nightlife and fine dining, and areas such as the Walk, whose outlet stores draw thick crowds, but the reinvestment hasn\u2019t been consistent or pervasive enough to stave off the city\u2019s decline. Perhaps more difficult, Atlantic City faces the added challenge of differentiating itself from Las Vegas. Nightclubs, which have been a top draw on the Strip, for example, have struggled to take off in Atlantic City.<\/p>\n
\tThat doesn\u2019t mean it can\u2019t recover.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThere\u2019s this misplaced secular evangelicalism in the way we talk about whether the city can be \u2018saved,\u2019\u2009\u201d Schwartz said. \u201cThe city is going to be there. It\u2019s not going to fall into a pit. The question is: Will it remain a viable tourist attraction and gaming destination?\u201d<\/p>\n
\tIn addition to reinvestment, experts say an aggressive marketing strategy, similar to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority\u2019s efforts over the past decade, will be crucial to combating Atlantic City\u2019s image problems. The city sometimes gets a bad rap as dirty, unfriendly and crime-ridden.<\/p>\n
\tBut there\u2019s plenty left for Atlantic City to capitalize on.<\/p>\n
\tSchwartz said revitalization would hinge on civic and business leaders getting creative about their resources. Las Vegas has no way to compete with beachfront bachelor parties or cruise ship casino stops, for example.<\/p>\n
\tExpanding service to Atlantic City\u2019s modest international airport also could open the market to new customers from around the world.<\/p>\n
\tThe key, however, will be whether the city is willing to let go of its past to take a chance on what\u2019s next. If not, there might not be much left to hold onto for the future.<\/p>\n
No replies were posted for this topic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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