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Harrah’s New Orleans New Manager Changes Marketing Focus

Posted on September 28th, 2010

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The focus of various casinos today when it comes to guests is to attract as many as they can, from wherever they may be. However, the style of going back to promoting from the grassroots has seemed to appeal to a new manager of a casino. Dan Real, Harrah’s New Orleans Casino and Hotel’s new general manager, has divulged plans of increasing revenue at the facility located in New Orleans by encouraging local residents and travelers in the region to come to the casino, a strategy a bit different from his predecessors.

Real, who only took the reins of managing the gambling facility last Aug. 23 made a bold statement, saying that the attempts during the recent times to attract guests by pushing for a national scope is leaning towards misappropriated. He adds, “I think we need to do a better job of going after the local business. We have in the past been driven as a national casino. And we’ve let our guard down a little bit in the local market.” The immediate predecessor of Real is Jim Hoskins, who became the casino’s general manager for more than three years, since 2006. The officials of the casino company have not given any comments on the events that led to the departure of Hoskins. As for Real, his takeover comes at a very unstable time for the casino, which is the only facility in Louisiana that is based on land and the gaming industry in general. Harrah’s New Orleans reported a 4.2 percent decrease in revenue for the first eight months of 2010, compared to the first months of last year. Only two months reported an improvement when it came to year-to-year comparison of casino revenue: April and July. The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage happens in April and the Essence Music Festival is held in July.

Real admits that his casino has had problems with revenue and that it is his job to find more ways for the casino to incur more income. His initial plan for that would be to launch more marketing campaigns to local and regional travelers. This would entail a shift in image for the facility, as it has always been known for attracting tourists since its opening in 1999. The locals meanwhile, prefer playing in the riverboat casinos. This image of Harrah’s New Orleans was furthered when it opened the Harrah’s Hotel, with 450 rooms in 2006, cementing its strategy to lure the national market. The management of the facility thought it would be wise to focus on high0end gamblers, the same marker that Las Vegas and Atlantic City also go for. Real said that under his management, Harrah’s will be accommodating the local market, but at the same time make sure that its national market share would still be intact. He adds, “I believe we may have taken our eye off the ball a little bit. I don’t believe the two should be mutually exclusive. My personal belief is we should be national, regional and local.”

Real claims that New Orleans locals will be exposed to promotions of the casino as a destination they can go to anytime of the week, while special events would be the focus of promotions to continue encouraging players throughout the country to come to their casino. He also plans on bringing more big names in entertainment, encouraging more visitors to come. He is considering an expansion of the facility’s entertainment area to accommodate more acts. He say, “We have a theater that’s very nice, but it’s small.” He also drops hints of an announcement that would add more excitement, but does not add more details, except that it may related to a further development at the pedestrian mall of Harrah’s on Fulton Street. Despite of the bad news, he also cited some areas of good news, as he divulged that under his management, the facility would open at least 30 more employment opportunities for various jobs. He claims, “Although times are tough right now, we are hiring, and I’m very proud of that.”

Real’s career in the casino company began when he became a marketing intern at Harrah’s Illinois. He moved on to become the assistant general manager and vice president of operations at Iowa’s Harrah’s Horseshoe Council Bluffs.