BestCraps.com

Atlantic City Casino Complexes Get into the Holiday Mood

Posted on December 1st, 2010

News Sponsored by Go Casino

Rated 5 Stars by BestCraps.com

Read Review

Visit Casino

Download Software

————————————————

Casino complexes in Atlantic City are pulling all stops to attract customers for the holiday season. The main reason is that the last quarter of the year is usually a slow season for the casino industry in general. Moreover, the past two years have taken a toll on the industry, with the declining economy causing adverse effects in gambling hall attendance and amounts spent by patrons. If those are not enough, competition from other facilities in neighboring states has affected AC’s performance. All these have caused gambling halls in the city to organize extravagant gimicks to encourage patronage.

For example, The Quarter, a retail and entertainment complex that resembles a mall at Tropicana Casino and Resort, has adapted a very White Christmas atmosphere – complete with snow-making machines to create an indoor winter wonderland for its guests. Tropicana hopes that letting its customers get into the yuletide spirit will also get them into a spending mood in gambling and other facilities. This year’s effort of Atlantic City casinos has been quite different from the past years, as the gaming industry has not been known for celebrating too much the holidays. Embracing the holidays may just be the right strategy to adopt this year.

Casinos may have also realized that it is not really the wisest idea to funnel all efforts towards promoting slot machines and gaming tables at this time of the year. Other businesses in these casino complexes such as hotel rooms, retail shops and restaurants may actually have better chances with guests who mostly aren’t in a gambling mood in a season of giving and sharing. And with mere days before Christmas comes along, it would be prudent of the casinos to create an atmosphere appropriate to the season, which would in turn attract guests. Mark Giannantonio, Tropicana’s president explained the shift in strategy by saying, “It’s not only about gamblers. We want to appeal to everyone. It certainly provides us with the opportunity to sell more hotel rooms at a slow time of year. And at the end of the day, we hope that our customers make a stop on the casino floor, too.” He added, “It’s something that you’re not going to see anywhere else in Atlantic City. You may have to go to New York to see decorations of this type. I’d like to think that it sets us apart from our competitors, not only here in Atlantic City, but in other casino states as well.”

For the past decades, casinos have not really exerted effort in promoting themselves during the holidays. It is still debatable whether the lack of promotion is a cause or an effect, but tourism dramatically declines during the time between the holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas. It was Tropicana that started holiday campaigns in 2005. It took five years for the other casinos to follow suit. Now, it can be considered official that Atlantic City has caught the holiday fever. As for Tropicana, the price tag of this festive transformation added up to more or less $100,000

Giannantonio said the holiday display may have shown signs of paying off in other areas of the casino. Ticket sales for the casino’s musical Christmas show and business in the retail shops in The Quarter have shown an increase. As for the hefty budget, the president commented, “We think it is money well spent.” As proof that they strategy may be working, elderly people have been spotted in the facility. Asked what they were doing in the complex, they claimed they came to Atlantic City by bus just to see the Tropicana’s musical Christmas show and have a fancy dinner at one of the restaurants in the casino.

The holiday display of Tropicana is highlighted by a giant Christmas tree with oversized, elaborately wrapped presents under it. The tree is decorated with aqua-colored lights and falling “snow,” which is actually a combination of water, soap and alcohol. The artificial snow is being blown by huge electric fans. It evaporates even before touching the ground of the complex, which is ironically designed with tropical Havana, Cuba as inspiration.