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I think the same people who used to take a bus trip to AC are now taking boat trips. A cruise is cheap, you get meals, accommodation, and shows...you don't have to worry about anything. And the casino goes where you go. I cruise fairly frequently and the casinos on board are always busy. Then you get to an island and you can gamble more if you want.
I'm not a big gambler myself but the person I travel with is. Sometimes she makes quite a bit, enough to cover the trip.
Actually, they used to do both. Now, they just cruise...and even that has dropped a little in the last decade.
When the old people are getting rooked on safe investments , their wallets are tight... I used to see mega retirees in AC... no more.. I would say that there are 2% of the people who used to go to Atlantic City . The casinos are empty. I went there a month ago to see for myself.
When banks give less than 1 % in interest and rob the retirees of thousands of dollars each year, they have to spend the principal of their savings to live. Ask any retiree if they are happy with their interest on their money.
The casinos no longer can afford to give away free rooms and meals that attracted many to AC... it was a slow death since 2007 when the foreclosures started to hit big and the banks went from 6 % interest to one twentieth of one percent as a return on a cd or IRA. No real return on bonds . No way to make any money for the retirees keep to safe investments for fear of losing it in the stock market which is a big gamble.
I believe we are in for a recession that will lead to a depression. Many big stores are empty today . The stock market is funding them and the stock holders are going to lose big in time.
Here in NJ for the summer, the traffic is light. It used to be jammed with cars. No more. I can see it coming. I live in a beach resort town that is very popular and it looks dead to the usual crowds that come here.
The local economy is poor, for the reasons you state along with others. Taxes and cost of living are out of control. When AC was making money it was supposed to invest and make the town better but never did that. Now it's dangerous for tourists. It's a shame too because AC did have a lot of potential.
Las Vegas teaches that you can no longer make it on gambling. Gaming revenues are now only about 45% of the net on the strip. The three corners of the stool become more equal each year. Accommodations and meals, Entertainment and gambling. The night clubs are the big money makers today. And pool clubs. And Cirque makes out well...and the combination provides a number of different things for the visitor and if all else fails a helicopter to Grand Canyon.
And note that comps come only to those with known track records. Gamble big and you get a nice room and show tickets. Gamble small and you may get a discount at the buffet.
AC tried to make it on gambling and it does not work. I would expect the same problem to do in the Indians in CN.
When the old people are getting rooked on safe investments , their wallets are tight... I used to see mega retirees in AC... no more.. I would say that there are 2% of the people who used to go to Atlantic City . The casinos are empty. I went there a month ago to see for myself.
When banks give less than 1 % in interest and rob the retirees of thousands of dollars each year, they have to spend the principal of their savings to live. Ask any retiree if they are happy with their interest on their money.
The casinos no longer can afford to give away free rooms and meals that attracted many to AC... it was a slow death since 2007 when the foreclosures started to hit big and the banks went from 6 % interest to one twentieth of one percent as a return on a cd or IRA. No real return on bonds . No way to make any money for the retirees keep to safe investments for fear of losing it in the stock market which is a big gamble.
I believe we are in for a recession that will lead to a depression. Many big stores are empty today . The stock market is funding them and the stock holders are going to lose big in time.
Here in NJ for the summer, the traffic is light. It used to be jammed with cars. No more. I can see it coming. I live in a beach resort town that is very popular and it looks dead to the usual crowds that come here.
I think the impact of Sandy is still an issue as well.
The reason is simple..
Parx Casino Bucks county Pa near philly,
Sugar house Philly,
NY got its own casinos
Those who lived "close to AC" stayed home saved a trip/money and hotel fees and these new casinos were closer.
This economy is not helping either.
Online gambling might also be digging into the issue but not sure on that one.
I live near parx casino, Instead of spending 1 hour and half drive I can drive 30 minutes, gamble and come home.
Eat local save on gas and or eat in the casino.
If I lose at the tables I dont have to pay tolls, extra gas money.
People dont really go to AC for the beach or the boardwalk. They go to AC because in the casinos its about money, money and spending it. People are finding better ways to spend there money on a SURE thing and not on a blackjack table in this economy.
But its ok someone will suggest they put a casinos in camden and that will solve everything right?
It's not the banks. Casino's are opening up in other nearby areas such as Pennsylvania and Maryland. No one needs to go to Atlantic City anymore which has very old hotels and casinos.
They poured money into all new slots in Atlantic City .I know, I live in NJ and go there occasionally. They are still buying new slots... The Showboat was redone decoratively recently and they are going to close in August.. the retirees don't have that extra money to gamble with. It is all related to the financial crisis.. I am a retiree and I have lost thousands of dollars on low interest rates because the stock market is a big gamble . Many lost their shirts in 2008...and compared to what the interest rates were before the crash it is peanuts....I am not the only one out there in this situation. Once you live it , you understand it . The interest I earned each year was the extra spending money I had.. I didn't have to touch the principal at all.
The perks are gone that attracted the people in AC.. they took out the comp machines to see how many points earned for freebees.. that was the first thing to go.. no free shows, nada..
The place was buzzing every day of the week till the down turn... I know. They say it is the new casinos.. It plays a small part.
one must understand.. the banks didn't just lose the interest on all those bad loans... they lost the principal too. They foreclosed on houses that lost value and sold them for 1/3 of the principal they paid out. They lost 2/3s of the money on each home in many areas hit the hardest... Fl, Ca and Arizona and every state has foreclosures. The banks stopped giving interest for years now. The fed keeps saying they are going to raise interest rates year after year they say that.. it hasn't happened.
Gas prices are much higher now so people will not travel to AC . That killed it too. It is a down turn everywhere.
Obama keeps giving money to the banks... buying up all those bad loans.. the banks are broke!! This country is broke!
The long running experiment of legalized gambling on the Jersey Shore has failed.
Much of the the fallout is on the backs of the taxpayers. Billions were infused into the city over the decades to try and rescue it from the inevitable failure. Only those with clear vision saw this coming a long time ago. Yet the New Jersey legislature continued to pour taxpayer money in on a bipartisan basis.
Gambling has declining in Atlantic City because it is legal in Pennsylvania, New York, and Delaware. People aren't traveling to Atlantic City because they can go to places closer to home.
I wondered about all those penny slots they had. All you'd see was senior citizens sitting at penny slots for hours. I'd lose my mind from boredom even if I was up several dollars by the end of the day. How do they make money on them?
Atlantic City is having problems, two hotel casinos are closing: the Showboat and Trump Plaza.
I think it is alarmist to suggest that AC is about to collapse. In recent years we've seen newer, better and more attractive casinos open up. AC has to reinvent itself as a destination that will draw non-gambling tourists.
Like so many others here I must point out that the casinos in Pennsylvania and Maryland are cutting into AC's business. The casinos here in Philly are doing great business.
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