Earlier this month, information surfaced about a rebranding campaign involving the Ocean Casino Resort and Hard Rock Atlantic City, among other businesses in a certain region of Atlantic City. Known as the Inlet or Uptown, the one mile area where the casinos are located is being rebranded as North Beach in an attempt to attract tourism to the region. But will it work? The two newest casinos in Atlantic City seem to still be struggling when it comes to generating traffic in the hopes of building monthly revenues.
North Beach Push
In the area being called North Beach, the Ocean Casino Resort and Hard Rock Atlantic City have teamed up with the Resorts Casino Hotel, another venue in the area, along with several other businesses to push the North Beach vibe. The collaboration includes the Steel Pier, a 120 year old spot where visitors often come when in Atlantic City. Other businesses on board include the Iron Room and Tennessee Avenue Beer Hall.
It is odd to see the casinos and local businesses coming together to promote as one. However, everyone can see the benefit of bringing more visitors to the area. Players who visit casinos will be more willing to travel to nearby businesses and vice versa. The biggest push of the North Beach area is the upcoming Block Party. The area is hosting a Block Party on June 20th, inviting travelers to come and join in on the fun.
During the Block Party, ever business involved in the North Beach effort will be offering community oriented events and specials. Locals are invited along with visitors in Atlantic City.
Visitor Numbers Surging; Revenues Hopeful
When the Ocean Casino Resort and Hard Rock Atlantic City opened in June of last year, it boosted tourism in Atlantic City. According to data by the state, a 33% boost took place in hotel room inventor. In 2018, the number of visitors was boosted by 14.9% overall in Atlantic County when considering 2017 totals.
The goal is to keep bringing players in. Visitors to Atlantic City may be more likely to visit the two casinos due to their newness. With this summer’s push for the North Beach initiative, we may see visitor numbers continue to climb.
Unfortunately, for the two casinos, online gaming revenues continue to dwindle. The online numbers have remained quite low and relatively under the $1 million range. This is quite small when compared to other operators who are bringing in $3 million or more in revenues each month from online casino and poker gaming. Hopefully, if land-based tourism is boosted, players will be more willing to try the online gaming options, and this will give a revenue boost to the brands.
We shall see after this weekend just how successful the North Beach efforts are by the casinos and businesses included in the campaign. With summer in full swing, it would not be surprising to see a nice influx of visitors to the region. Just how many will attend the special event is anyone’s guess.
The groups will most likely continue with further initiatives to try and bring in more traffic during July and August as well before the fall season begins. We shall see how the current plan works after this weekend and it is expected that even more efforts will be made by the casinos and businesses involved to bring in traffic to the region.
