Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | February 2009 38 Feature those from the South andWest stay away. Who stays, who plays One of the most important findings to emerge from this initial round of Vega$AT interviews is that “stay and play” rates (i.e., the proportion of hotel guests that also spend most of their time gambling at the same hotel) vary dramatically by property. Obviously, the better job a property can do to keep its guests in-house playing the games and taking in all of the amenities, the better it will do financially. Still, a large number of players say that they stay at one property but often find themselves playing at another. Certainly, given all the entertainment and gaming options on the Strip, players are going to walk. The challenge for casinos is to understand why they walk and where they walk to. Satisfaction differs widely When the pool of customers shrinks it becomes all themore important tomaximize the draw to keep themon property. Vega$AT found clear differences in satisfaction ratings across venue types. Simply put, satisfaction ratings for Las Vegas casinos are not all that high. For a business that depends on quality customer service not a lot of players rate properties on a high scale. “Every one of these visitors is going to go home and tell at least one person about their visit,” Thomas explained. “We know that the lower their satisfaction the more likely they will be to complain about their experience to friends and family—and these future visitors will be affected.” U.S. and non-U.S. visitors differ dramatically in terms of their overall levels of satisfaction, with non-U.S. visitors posting consistently lower satisfaction scores compared with their U.S. counterparts. The biggest differences reside in gambling activities, where non-U.S. visitors are significantly less satisfied. “Given that these non-U.S. visitors are alreadyspendingsignificantlylessongaming activities, these low satisfaction scores do not bode well for increased spending in this area,” said Thomas. Vega$AT asked visitors, “In these difficult times, what is still bringing you out to Las Vegas?” Not surprisingly, the most common response is “for the fun and excitement”. The value proposition of Las Vegas is still relevant today even in a down economy. It’s up to casino operators to keep the magic alive and provide the type of fun, excitement and escape that people need. The next collection of data for the Index will take place this month. “We welcome the opportunity for Las Vegas venues to add their own custom questions to the Vega$AT Index,” said Thomas. “As we continue to build the Vega$AT Index data base we are sure it will quickly become the new must-have metric to gauge the Vegas experience.” Reprinted with permission from International GamingandWageringBusiness (IGWB) magazine. Clear Seas Research is a full-service marketing research firm specializing in both qualitative and quantitative research. In addition to interacting with different stakeholders in the gaming sector directly, Clear Seas interfaces with an extensive internal and external network of industry experts to ensure that the firm is kept up-to-date with industry trends. For more information on the Vega$AT Index, contact John E. Thomas, executive director of Clear Seas’ Gaming Insights Practice, at +1 248 786 1659; or via e-mail at: thomasj@clearseasresearch.com . John E. Thomas is the executive director of Clear Seas Research and has 20 years of research experience in all aspects of qualitative and quantitative primary and secondary research design, implementation, analysis, reportingandpresentation.Hehasanextensive background in customer loyalty research, advertising research, brand awareness/image tracking, product development research and product application/usage studies. Glenn Goulet is a principal of Gaming Strategies + Insight LLC and has more than 25 years of market research experience. Since 1993, he has been exclusively researching the gaming and hospitality industries. The study findings reveal that non-U.S. visitors are significantly less satisfied when it comes to gambling activities