August in Atlantic City wasn't necessarily as horrendous as it seemed to be, according to figures released by the Atlantic City Convention and Visitors Authority.

There's no denying a 16.3 percent decrease in gaming revenue from last August is yet another serious blow to the industry that had hoped to see an economic turnaround during the summer that never materialized. But according to the following press release, there were some bright spots away from the slot machines and gaming tables:

                             Atlantic City Tourism Business Shows Strong Summer Results

(September 10, 2009, Atlantic City, NJ) -- Atlantic City’s restaurants, attractions and other tourism indicators provide a positive picture of summer business, once again defying the mixed results presented by other regional destinations. Even a cloudy, late Labor Day weekend proved positive for some.

"By all indications, a rainy June and a late Labor Day had minimal overall effect on several segments of the tourism market," said Jeff Vasser, president of the Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Authority (ACCVA). "Our visitors enjoyed the local attractions and restaurants, and hotel occupancy statistics reported by some of our partners far outshine the national average."

With traffic counts on the Atlantic City Expressway down overall for the summer, "We can only surmise that more people chose to stay for multi-day vacations instead of day trips – especially those coming from a distance who took advantage of all the new air and train transportation options that have become available in the last year," Vasser added.

Resorts Atlantic City reports that room occupancy in July was at 95.8 percent and remained high in August at 95.1 percent. Nationwide, occupancy rates averaged 64.1 percent in July, according to Smith Travel Research. Full national occupancy statistics for August are not yet available, but are expected to hover in the same range as July’s. At Carisbrooke Inn in Ventnor, occupancy was up 5.5 percent from July 1 through Labor Day. And Atlantic City Central Reservations, Inc., which operates the booking engine on the ACCVA’s Web site, www.atlanticcitynj.com, reports that bookings attributed to the ACCVA were up about 25 percent for the Labor Day weekend and up 16 percent for the summer over 2008’s bookings.

"These figures are in line with the number of occupied rooms nights we’ve seen for the first half of the year from the Atlantic City casinos," according to Vasser. There were slight increases in occupied room nights for both the first and second quarters of 2009, according to figures released earlier this year by the Casino Control Commission.

If Carmine’s Restaurant at The Quarter in Tropicana is any indication, Atlantic City’s restaurants also fared well. Carmine’s reports an increase in total guest counts for lunch and dinner this summer, with several record-breaking revenue days.

Atlantic City’s attractions also reported increases. The Atlantic City Aquarium hosted 20 percent more guests this Labor Day weekend than in 2008, capping off increased revenue in June, July and August, with August business up a total of 30 percent. Steel Pier reports a slight increase in attendance over 2008, with a significant increase in the volume of guests who came from hotels and casino resorts, including guests from as far as Utah. Lucy the Elephant in Margate also had a successful summer season, with a 20 percent increase over 2008, and reports that the Sunday of Labor Day weekend was nearly twice as busy as last year.

Vasser also notes that special events such as the annual Atlantic City Airshow "Thunder Over the Boardwalk" and the Atlantic City Food and Wine Festival were large draws. The Airshow attracted approximately 750,000 people for the one-day event.

This is not to say they’re ready to party like it’s 2005 in Atlantic City. But it's pretty much an article of faith that if AyCee is going to survive, it'll will non-gaming amenities that will be its lifeblood. The above numbers suggest the town is on the right track.
 

Atlantic City and its struggling gambling industry tonight received the best news possible: Revel Entertainment has found the $1.7 billion needed to finish construction of its mega-resort on the Boardwalk's east end. The tangible and psychological ramifications of Shanghai-based China State Construction Engineering Corp. ponying up the dough are overwhelming. Most importantly, of course, this guarantees the stunning, blue-glass hotel-casino project will see completion, giving gamblers and non-gamblers alike another reason to visit AyCee, And with it will come thousands of jobs at a wide variety of pay scales. But this is bigger than the proverbial bricks and mortar. China State Construction's eyebrow-raising investment sends an unmistakeable message that despite the lousy economy and slot parlors to the immediate west, Atlantic City has a viable (not to mention exciting, according to those who have seen the blueprints) future as a first-class tourist destination. Plenty of "experts" have written off the town, and more than a few I've talked to have privately predicted Revel Entertainment would never be able to finish the job, and the existing exterior work would wind up being nothing more than an eye-catching monument to a future that never was. This changes everything. Now the company can enthusiastically and confidently work toward what is now expected to be a July, 2011 opening. Good news indeed...

***If there are any people more stupid than the federal lawmakers who have championed keeping sports betting illegal in Delaware (and, by extension, everywhere), I'd love to know who they are, so I can marvel at the depths of their idiocy.

Sure, it's barely a Band-Aid on a tumor in the overall scheme of things, but everyone involved in today's Atlantic City Air Show has a right to feel pretty damned good.

A crowd whose estimates may reach upwards of 750,000 jammed the beach and Boardwalk to watch a spectacular display of military hardware and aeronautic acrobatics under a bright sun that was mercifully tempered by an occasional passing cloud or two.

Walking along the Boardwalk around noontime recalled those sepia photos from the 1910s and '20s in which the Great Wood Way is a sea of people jammed shoulder-to-shoulder. Tuesday night, all 11 casinos were reporting no vacancies, and today, gaming hall eateries (at least those in midtown) saw the kinds of lunch-hour lines that were standard in the long-gone days when AC held the East Coast gambling monopoly.

Even at 1 p.m.--the midway point of the four-hour exhibition--the line of cars eastbound on the Atlantic City Expressway strectched back to the approach to the Pleasanvile (75-cent) toll plaza, several miles out of town.

While a one-day extravaganza won't begin to cure the city's economic ills, the annual Air Show certainly proves that it can stage a first-class mega-event the likes of which no other gaming destination outside Vegas could dream of executing.

The challenge now will be for Atlantic City to build on the momentum created by today's event. If it can, it could go along way in ensuring the town has a future as a resort destination.

Now that the Tropicana's ownership issues appear to be solved (zillionaire Carl Icahn has been awarded the beleaguered--but potential-filled operation), rumors are starting to emerge about who will be handed the keys once new ownership is in place.

We hear that a former top-tier AyCee exec, who most recently ran a $2 billion-dollar-plus playpen half-way around the world, was recently seen at the Trop. If true, that augers well for the casino-hotel complex, which --with the infusion of capital, stability and elbow grease--could become one of the town's dominant properties. The suit in question definitely innovated during his last term in Atlantic City.

 

In what appears to be a first for a casino show, "Cirque Dreams Pandemonia," the summer-long attraction at Trump Taj Mahal, is conducting a public talent search.

Saturday, "Pandemonia" creator-producer Neil Goldberg and his creative team will be at the Taj auditioning anyone who thinks he or she has what it takes to appear in a performance of the show that runs through Labor Day weekend.
 

"The only requirement is talent," said Goldberg. "If you're outgoing, ever dreamed of being in a Broadway-caliber show and have a unique skill, we'd love to see your talent. We're looking for that star quality...that special something that makes you different from the others."

The competition is open to people of all ages. The winner will be trained by the "Pandemonia" crew for a one-time-only star turn in an upcoming show performance. To participate, just show up at the Taj's Xanadu theater between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.,

The public is invited to watch the tryouts. Admission is free.

 

The "Hippest Booking of the Year" award has been claimed by Borgata, which earlier today, announced it has booked The Roots (a.k.a. The Coolest Band In the  Galaxy) for a residency gig that kicks off July 24.

The eclectic, genre-melting unit from Philly--which currently serves as the house band for "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon"-- will perform a series of gigs in the Big B's 1,000-seat Music Box. Each date will also feature a special guest artist, as well as a Roots-hosted afterparty at the mixx danceteria.

 

 

 

 

There's no question that when it comes to high finance (make that highest finance), zillionaire Carl Icahn has few, if any peers. But is he really the guy the Tropicana needs at this critical juncture in its almost-29-year history?

I  had the privilege of spending some time on several occasions with Icahn when he owned the Sands, and I enjoyed our time together. He is an interesting--not to mention brilliant--person with an impressive amount of street smarts. And I have absolutely no doubt that one day in the next few years, he will turn the $200 million worth of debt reduction that got him the Trop into yet another major payday (remember, he bought the Sands for $135 million--including the $70 mil he paid Harrah's Entertainment for the Traymore Hotel site fronting the Boardwalk--and sold it to Pinnacle Entertainment for twice that). 

But I'm not sure the Tropicana will benefit from his ownership.

Having been through the hell that was the regime of Columbia-Sussex (the Kentucky-based company run by the obviously clueless William Yung III), what the Trop needs more than anything else right now is some TLC provided by an owner who reallly cares about the property,  which could easily be on the Borgata's level with the proper infusion of cash and guidance.

Icahn is a lot of things, but, despite his previous ownership of gaming properties here and in Las Vegas, he's not a casino operator. And what the Trop should have is leadership that wants to create a premiere resort, not just another buy-low, sell-high commodity.

On the plus side, Icahn is known for hiring solid gaming industry executives to run his casinos. And, at the very least, he'll probably bring some much-needed stability to the Trop and its employees, who have suffered greatly during the uncertainty of the recent past.

But it's hard to imagine he'll put in the capital (certainly in nine figures) needed to offset the damage done to the Trop the past few years. Which is why maybe he isn't the right man for this particular job.