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by Steve Norton

CEO, Norton Management

Does fewer casino hotel rooms mean fewer big conventions? | Atlantic County | pressofatlanticcity.com

Fewer rooms in Atlantic City obviously translates to smaller sized conventions. But the lack of rooms impacting on the number and size of major conventions and trade shows is much more critical on those 200 mid-week nights annually, where we have little overnight demand. Placing full paying business in those Fall, Winter and Spring Mondays thru Thursdays would do far more good for the casino and non casino resorts, by creating profit centers, apart form the casino department.

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by Steve Norton

CEO, Norton Management 

Major Gambling Proposal Emerges in Florida Senate 

Once dog and horse tracks are no longer required to have live racing, it would seem the State could bring the slot tax rate back to the 50% level; that was only reduced to underwrite live racing. Whether tracks can keep their Black Jack, should be dealt with in the Seminole Compact negotiations. The good news for Florida tourism is the probable inclusion of the game of Craps and Roulette in the Seminole negotiations; which would put the Tribal casinos on equal footing with other resort destinations; the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Biloxi and many other Island and Central American casinos.

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by Steve Norton

CEO, Norton Management

Casinos are no surefire jackpot in Georgia, study says 

In contradiction to this study, there are large US cities, with casino gaming downtown as well as in surrounding communities. The four with casinos downtown are Detroit, St. Louis, Philadelphia and Baltimore. Ten others, of the top 25 US cities, benefit from gaming in communities where most of the areas population resides. Philadelphia, with 5 percent more area population than Atlanta, is missing a key ingredient to the success of a center city casino, as proposed by MGM, and that is less than 20 percent of the hotel accommodations of Atlanta, with 93,900 rooms. That means there are 34 million available room nights, primarily filled by traveling businessmen, conventioneers and trade show attendees. And these are affluent visitors, who are traveling on company expense, and looking for different types of entertainment.

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by Steve Norton

CEO, Norton Management 

 

Brazil: New gaming bill now being debated by Lower House

Casino gaming is a powerful tourism amenity, and many visitors will not visit a resort that doesn't offer it. Some countries, like Singapore, were very opposed to casinos, but realized it could be introduced, and limited to the more affluent population, by introducing entry fees.

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