Inside Asian Gaming

March 2009 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 45 you’re seeing some of the tribes reducing employment and re-evaluating investment,” said Eadington. “California kind of led the way with the economy getting hit,”said Lawrence Klatzkin, managing director and analyst at Jefferies & Co. in New York. “People’s budgets aren’t what they were. [Tribal gaming] is a new market that grew aggressively, and there’s a lot of competition, and it’s taking a hit. Think about it—five years ago, how many of those California casinos even existed?” More ‘calculation’ So is it back to basics? Comped rooms and “locals nights” at a beefed-up buffet? Internet marketing? Billboards? “The bar has been raised,” said Conrad. “But there’s not much you should be doing in a recession that you shouldn’t have been doing already.” The sales approach is key, he says, but not the hard sell. “The basics, or what people should have been doing all along, are things like the valet who tells you to try the restaurant, or the reservationist who recommends the upgrade for a few more bucks. For the operators that begin to do that there’s a big upside. It helps you maximize your existing customer base, especially in the modern- day casino-resorts.” There’s the “up-sell” and the “cross-sell,” he says, and they translate as well to small joints with only coffee shops and gift stores. “Why doesn’t every employee have the opportunity to comp someone to the buffet in exchange for getting someone to sign up for a players club card?” he said. “If you can’t get people who like you humping on your behalf, who can you get?” Given all of the above and more, Zarnett sees the next 12 months playing out much like the commercial real estate market. “For 2009, our industry outlook is negative as we expect the global consumer credit crunch and higher unemployment and the aftermath of the residential housing mess to have a negative impact on domestic demand for regional casino entertainment and lead many people to defer trips to Las Vegas,” he wrote in December. “Looking to industry demand... reduced consumer wherewithal, rising unemployment across the nation, a higher-priced U.S. dollar and lower convention visits will not help the bleak outlook.” In the meantime, buff up the all-you- can-eat buffet, says John Ely, senior vice president of Signature Worldwide, a sales and customer service training company in Dublin, Ohio, and an advisor to Bally’s, Harrah’s, Station Casinos, MGM Mirage and others. That ought to help bring back the loyal customers. At the same time, though, much- needed innovation need not be pricey. Why not experiment with the so-called “social media”—Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and the like, Ely asks. Blogs, even. “It’s amazing how fast the marketing message gets out there” with these kinds of media, he said. And even though the typical casino demographic skews somewhat older than all this, “Now’s the time to learn,” he said.“Of the larger corporations, very few are using the social media.” The year ahead is going to be tough, Eadington says. “You’re certainly not going to be seeing an expansion of convention business. The high-end nightclub scene, which has already proven to be not a big profit center, and high-end retail, will suffer further. Gaming and trips to gaming resorts are not tremendously important.” He adds that even among gamblers who are addicted to the activity, “There will be much more calculation, and much less spending per trip.” Thomas J. Walsh is a Philadelphia business writer and editor and reports on real estate, economic development, city planning and business trends. He covered gaming and tourism for more than two years at the Reno (Nev.) Gazette-Journal . He can be contacted at thomaswalsh1@gmail.com.