Younger Visitors Drawn to Atlantic City’s Hotel-Casinos

The affordable rates of hotel-casinos in Atlantic City draw younger visitors. While some older return clients have come back, many have temporarily retreated.

Casinos in Atlantic City Draw Younger Visitors

The reopening of casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey brought many young visitors to the casino-hotels in the state. The operators in Atlantic City noted that a part of the older regular clients are still present. However, a big part of those clients have retreated temporarily, possibly because of the respiratory disease COVID-19 which doesn’t seem to be going away. With the older crowd in less numbers, operators observed a rise in visitors from the younger generation.

Casinos in Atlantic City were ordered to shutdown back in mid-March. Similar to other states, New Jersey ordered the shutdown of casinos and other entertainment venues in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Early last month, the operators in the state were allowed to reopen their doors. The affordable rates that hotel-casinos offer in Atlantic City got the attention of the younger population. Many visitors found the city as the best place for a summer vacation.

Ron Baumann, senior vice president and general manager for Caesars Entertainment said their affordable hotel rates are drawing many young families. He outlined that during the weekdays, much more families are seen on their vacation.

Older Customers Visit Less Frequently

Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Atlantic City president Joe Lupo commented on the subject by saying: “We are seeing that the older the customer is, the less frequent we are seeing that customer compared to last year.” According to him, the same behavior model is observed in other venues by Hard Rock. Lupo added, that the older customers can be more cautious about going out in public because of COVID-19.

Caesars Entertainment, now merged with Eldorado manages four out of nine casinos in Atlantic City. Commenting on the subject, Caesars’ regional president Steve Callender said: “I agree that the crowd is younger and we have many families visiting.” He added: “But, I think, they have always been coming.“

According to Callender many of the mature guests and regular gamblers may not be coming currently, because of the reduced amenities due to the post-COVID-19 environment. Callender added that there is a high chance that this type of visitors are just waiting for a vaccine, which will make them feel more comfortable.

Caesars Entertainment SVP Baumann added that there is a recorded uptick of younger visitors in Atlantic City. He said that this data is based on factors such as rewards cards which were sold and hotel bookings. Looking back at the beginning of July, Caesars sold some 6,000 Rewards cards for the first two weeks. Players aged 29-39 were responsible for the bigger part of the Rewards cards which were purchased.