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When Harrah's Entertainment Inc. and the Narragansett Indians proposed a casino hotel facility in West Warwick, Rhode Island, major tourism leaders balked.
The facility’s 115,000 square feet of casino space, 500 hotel rooms, two full service restaurants and a 55,000 square foot ballroom would do considerable damage to the State and local tourism industry, many said.
In response, Harrah’s asked me to present testimony to Committees of the Rhode Island Legislature to factually address a number of relevant issues . Hopefully, you’ll also find this information useful for the future.
Introduction
Since the development of Foxwoods Casino in nearby Connecticut, a steady stream of Rhode Island residents have been motivated to visit there for leisure travel and meetings--taking millions of travel dollars outside the State of Rhode Island that could have supported local jobs and added tax revenue.
In fact, according to Foxwood executives, more than 120 Rhode Island businesses have taken their meetings to Foxwoods since 1988.
This is not surprising. Tourism--or the business of serving travelers--has become America’s number one industry. And the attraction of casino gaming and its additional amenities for meetings, restaurants, retail and entertainment have become major parts of the product marketing mix that influence millions of visitor travel decisions throughout America.
What is surprising, however, is the recent dialogue and concerns expressed by some local tourism interests who believe that this proposed new venue from Harrah’s and the Narragansett Indians will limit or negate opportunities for tourism growth and resulting economic prosperity for Rhode Island and the Providence Warwick area. Indeed, the opposite is true; and this has been consistently so in destination after tourism destination throughout America.
To address these concerns, we have outlined the recent comments and then responded with the learned opinions from some of America’s top experts in tourism development.
Special Concerns-- and responses from National Tourism Industry Experts
Concern 1. “The new casino...will compete with the state’s hotels, convention centers and other tourism attractions …”
Actually, the opposite will occur. This new casino facility will provide a new, major motivational reason for travelers to visit Rhode Island and the Providence Warwick area, and extend length of stay as well.
In fact, fully two out of three visits (69%) to the new Casino are projected to be from out-of-state visitors, according to the recent business analysis from Business Research and Economic Advisors (A.J Moody, The Economic Impact of the Proposed Destination Casino in West Warwick, RI, March 2003). This creates a growing market for new travelers to Rhode Island that will use, over time, still more hotel rooms—not less.
Because the Casino provides more consumer travel choices--and enhances the visitor product--it will also help the destination effectively compete with other out of state destinations, such as Foxwoods and the Mohegan Sun. It will also heighten the destination’s appeal and provide broader diversity of the visitor destination for such feeder markets as Boston.
We asked nationally recognized tourism expert John Boatright, the former Chairman of the Association of Travel Marketing Executives and President of Quantified Tourism Marketing about this issue. He offers this analogy:
“Think of destination-selling as you would a major retail mall. Most visitors don’t just come for one store in a mall. They come for the whole experience, the variety of different stores, products and appeals… And the more product diversification there is in a mall--as with a tourism community--the more potential visitors will be attracted. That’s the way it is with destination marketing. Diversity of tour product brings more visitors… and this new casino product will deliver an expanded visitor draw for Providence Warwick and the entire State of Rhode Island.”
Throughout America's tourism industry, experts conclude that the addition of casino gaming creates a positive visitor amenity that ultimately brings new visitor business—not diminishes or dilutes it.
A prime example is Memphis, Tennessee where tourism is now a multi-billion dollar contributor to the healthy regional economy. As neighboring Tunica, Mississippi has become one of America's most successful gaming capitals, it has had positive impacts in producing incremental business for Memphis and its visitor industry, according to local experts.
"We're a much better travel destination today because of Tunica's nearby Casino Gaming market," says Memphis Convention and Visitor Bureau President & CEO Kevin Kane. "It has added diversity to our product mix and ultimately brought more visitors and more visitor dollars here that have benefited everyone--particularly the creation of much needed jobs for the hotel and restaurant sectors."
Casinos provide another visitor amenity that can both motivate visitors and fulfill their interests while visiting destinations because of the increased worldwide popularity of gaming entertainment. And this will be a positive factor for Rhode Island that will support its traditional visitor appeals.
Thus, by providing new visitors to the State, more visitors will be on site to see and do more. And Rhode Island and the Providence Warwick Area will, over time, significantly increase their relative market share of the New England visitor industry.
According to Bob Whitley, President of the US Tour Operators Association, whose members produce the majority of tourism programs sold internationally:
“Travelers just about everywhere have gotten use to the proposition that casino gaming is now just minutes away from most destinations. And many consider it another amenity, another thing to do, that enhances the visitor experience.”
In addition, for those future repeat out-of-state visitors to Providence and Warwick who extend their stay by visiting the New Casino facility, the beneficiaries will be other area restaurants, retail and attractions who also make a portion of their living serving travelers.
Concern 2. “The new Casino will draw customers away from the state owned Rhode Island Convention Center… and area hotels.”
No. Actually more meeting and convention planners will begin to choose Rhode Island and the Providence Warwick area.
Throughout the meetings/convention industry, planners who choose various meeting venues for their individual conventions and meetings, employ a great diversity of site selection criteria, based on the individual needs of their associations and members.
According to Joel Dolci, President/CEO of the New York Society of Association Executives, whose 2,000-plus members conduct many meetings in the Northeast:
“Meeting planners aren’t all looking for the same thing. Some will choose a casino property, while others will prefer a public facility. You have to understand that there’s a lot of potential meetings business out there… so the more meeting venue choices a community has to offer, the greater the potential volume. This Casino should bring more meetings business to Rhode Island--not take away business from other existing facilities. ”
This thought is echoed by Jeff Vasser, Executive Director of the Atlantic City Convention and Visitors Authority, which operates the State’s Convention Center there:
“There’s a good synergism here and in Las Vegas between the principal government operated city convention center and the meeting and convention facilities of the casinos… The end result is more business for everybody--not less. That’s just the way the business works. What’s more, there are thousands of non-casino hotel rooms that are filled daily from the attraction of the casino industry. It’s truly a business partnership.”
(Continued click here.)
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