Panel: Casinos suffer revenue drop when smoking is banned
Jump to full article: AP, 2006-11-15
Author: RYAN NAKASHIMA, The Associated Press
Intro: Smoking bans are snuffing out casino revenue, but more marketing and investment can lure customers back, a panel of experts told a gambling conference.
Since the Canadian province of Ontario imposed a smoking ban in public places in May, casinos along the border with the United States have suffered a revenue drop of 10 percent to more than 20 percent, said Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. vice president Karl Gagesch.
"Short-term pain," Gagesch told the conference Tuesday. "Long term, we think we're going to be OK."
The largest impact has been at Casino Windsor, which laid off more than 300 employees over the summer as American smokers stayed in Michigan and New York to gamble, he said. Visitation was also hurt by a strong Canadian dollar and tougher border security, he said. . . .
A similar smoking ban at three racinos, or race tracks that also offer slot machines, in Delaware also had a negative impact, with slot machine revenue down 10 percent to 19 percent since the ban was imposed in 2002, said Richard Thalheimer, an economist and president Thalheimer Research Associates.
Slot revenue has since rebounded, he noted, mainly because of the introduction of more slot machines.
Karen Blumenfeld, a member of the New Jersey Group Against Smoking Pollution (GASP), heralded the panel's openness to adapting to a wave of anti-smoking legislation sweeping the country.
"It's not the gloom and doom," she said. "I'm very relieved that the industry is now embracing these changes."
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