News Tourism & Hospitality

Gaming, hospitality show strong visitor volume amid economic headwinds

[ad_1]

The Division of Gaming Enforcement released third quarter and year-to-date gaming and hospitality data for Atlantic City Nov. 22, which shows continued strong numbers for visits that were hit a bit by economic headwinds that weakened spend.

Last quarter, casino operators reported net revenue of $980 million, marking a 1.3% increase from the third quarter in 2021. The casinos reported gross operating profit of $269.3 million, a 13.4% decrease compared with 2021.

Over the first nine months of the 2022, net revenue reached $2.5 billion, an 11.9% increase from the same time frame in 2021. The year-to-date gross operating profit was $608.5 million, a 2.7% increase from last year.

Atlantic City

“Summer 2022 faced many headwinds from shortages in staffing and supplies to increased gas prices and inflation,” said Jane Bokunewicz, faculty director of Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism (LIGHT), Stockton University School of Business. – MEET AC

“Summer 2022 faced many headwinds from shortages in staffing and supplies to increased gas prices and inflation,” said Jane Bokunewicz, faculty director of Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism (LIGHT), Stockton University School of Business, who analyzed the report. “Like summer 2021, summer 2022 showed recovery in comparison to 2020, but without the pent-up demand that seemed to buoy the previous year’s performance.”

Hotel occupancy last quarter was 86.7%, an increase of 5.4% versus 2021. The year-to-date hotel occupancy rate was 76.2%, an increase of 8.2% from last year.

Bokunewicz says the data aligns with anecdotal evidence that this past summer was strong in terms of visitor volumes but weakened in terms of comparative spend.

“In addition to global impacts on labor and costs of goods, Atlantic City’s casinos negotiated new contracts, which increased wages for many employees,” said Bokunewicz. “Coupled with reduced overall spending, and other expenses, increased wages contributed to a very challenging summer for Atlantic City’s casino operators.”

She believes, though, that the industry has adapted to these challenges.

Bokunewicz pointed out that while gross operating profit declined 13.4% versus last year’s third quarter, it was up by 12.3% from the pre-pandemic third quarter 2019 figure of $239.4 million, along with the 2.7% year-to-date improvement over last year.

“This is evidence that, despite the challenges of the summer, operators managed to maintain profitability for the year overall,” she said.

Bokunewicz also cited recent data from Meet AC showing the number of events, meetings and conventions was up 39% from the same quarter last year with an 8% increase over 2019.

Delegate spending for last quarter jumped nearly 77% over last summer and 14% over 2019. This past summer, events facilitated by Meet AC brought $47.7 million to the resort town.

“As sectors like business travel and meetings and conventions continue to recover and grow in the wake of the pandemic’s disruption, we should see them having an increased impact on Atlantic City’s overall performance as a resort destination,” said Bokunewicz. “Alongside regional competition, which has stimulated investment in city-wide improvements and diversification in resort offerings, current market circumstances would seem to favor a period of pronounced, and positive, change for Atlantic City.”



[ad_2]

Source link