Atlantic City: Recovery is real

This week The Press of Atlantic City reported that “the number of visitors to the resort increased by more than 260,000, the casino industry employed nearly 6,700 more people and gaming revenue was up by $54.8 million.” Sounds good to us.  The positive news including gambling-revenue gains of 12% in July and 23% (!) in August. Casino employment passed the 300,000 mark for the first time in almost four years. Greater Atlantic City Chamber President Joseph Kelly said, “The casino industry is and always has been an economic engine for the city, state and region. This economic growth will continue as the casino industry strengthens its commitment to the community through new job training initiatives and employment opportunities.”

Vehicular traffic to the seaside resort town also increased on a sequential basis through the summer months, a possible indicator of good word of mouth for a market refreshed by Hard Rock Atlantic City and Ocean Resort. The availability of sports betting did not hurt either. Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality & Tourism at Stockton University Executive Director Rummy Pandit put it in a nutshell: “The overall growth clearly demonstrates the power of a multifaceted resort that is providing varied experiences for visitors encompassing gaming, entertainment, food and beverage, lodging, the arts and a beach — essentially creating a fun-filled destination experience that visitors will cherish and memorialize.”

* Casinos in Macao are starting to get the message that City Hall is serious about its smoking ban. Some 23 have already submitted their smoking-lounge applications and 16 more are expected to cross the transom soon, leaving no holdouts. When all is said and done, there will be 233 smoking lounges spread across 39 casinos. Sociedade de Jogos de Macau‘s Ponte 16 was just approved, as was Melco Resorts & Entertainment‘s Studio City. The Yankee casino owners have been slower to move. Macanese casinos go smoke-free on Jan. 1.

* Despite mostly dismal metrics (28th for the price of a cappucino — and that was one of the *better* rankings), WalletHub has ranked Las Vegas as the 15th-best city for coffee. What did the trick? Being fifth in America for coffee shops, coffee houses and cafés per capita. We think Starbucks was responsible but we’ll take that 15 spot.