Introduction
When discussing about visiting a hotel; if there is no casino in it then the hotel is said to be incomplete or lacks entertainment. The presence of casino in a hotel is just like a cherry on a cake. There is a rising trend of having a casino in a hotel due to numerous advantages for both the casino and hotel. These two are dependent on each other in terms of income and flow of visitors who are seeking entertainment and lodging facility. Many investors in this business sector are not putting more efforts in considering the advantages of having a casino in a hotel and building a casino in hotel.
Casino
Casino is a part of gaming industry and is usually a gambling activity which can be facilitated in a house usually. Casinos are usually built near or in combination with shopping malls, cruises, restaurants, hotels, farm house, picnic points and other attractions for tourists. Much have been discussed on whether economic or social cause and effect of gambling activities outweigh the income that is generated initially when the business activity has taken place .
Hotel
Hotel is a temporary place of lodging that is temporary whose services can be taken by paying a set amount of rate per night. Basic facility provided by hotel management for the accommodation in previous years was just a room provided with cupboard, bed, table, washroom and a fridge. But now days it has been replaced with greater facility such as television, sofa set, mini bar, drinks food and a tea maker and even alarm clock. There are some luxury features attached to it as well such as Jacuzzi, pillow menu, slippers and bathrobes, and bathtubs. Five star hotels also provide its guests with extra facility in a shape of fitness center, swimming pool, child care center, conference and business activity center and social event centers and services .
Casino Hotels
Recently there is a new idea being practiced in the lodging industry and casino hotel is one of those recent ideas which were introduced 15 years back. There is quite a variety of sizes from limited hotels for services to small markets in a remote area of Native America such as Texas, South Dakota and Eagle Pass. Small jurisdiction in the area for example in Louisiana and Lowa are also some example for small sizes hotels. On the other hand, there are large five and seven stars hotels which are rated as diamond ratings mostly found in a porch city like Las Vegas. Among the seven largest rankings of hotels, four of them is a casino hotel which are very popular and have a strong brand name such as Park Place, MGM Grand, Native American hotel casino and Venetian hotel. In Native America near Connecticut, the most famous one are Fox wood casino hotel and Mohegan Sun .
There are several reasons as to why this industry is growing so rapidly and becoming popular day by day. The foremost reason is location where there is a population center where the players usually come. While establishing such casino hotel, one need to keep in minds that, the location plays a vital role in developing the market and for the good flow of clients and tourists. When you talk about United States of America market such as Las Vegas, New York and Atlantic is the most populated one. Las Vegas is said to be the most populous and attractive destination for tourist is because the two states such as San Francisco and Los Angeles is near to Las Vegas. These two states are located nearly 275 miles away from it making it to be the center of destination.
Atlantic City feels pride in saying that United States of America’s 25% population lives within the city’s driving distance with just a single gas filling. This discrepancy in distance leads to a difference in the hotel and its room each of the city has. Since two route trips are usually impossible with in a single day for the tourists that is at least 550 miles away and is also not desired by them, as they want to spend quality time with family over there after spending so much of money and energy. Therefore, Las Vegas in such case has built more than 129000 rooms and hotels to accommodate the tourists. Many of a players who lives near Atlantic City and are 150 miles away to the maximum, these casinos has chosen to provide bus service for patrons. Although the recently built Borgata Resort in Atlantic City has 30,000 hotel rooms only but is said to be the second in the ranking of gaming jurisdiction within United States of America.
Several other reasons to be discussed are competition being one of the most important too. There is a constant struggle coming along to attain and attract customers who are looking for new concepts in casinos, new experience, new decoration and interior and just new destination. Other is consolidation through which the customer gets a location which is the most desirable. Third is partnership where the tourists and visitors along with the convention bureau try to make the city conventional for the country. Mandalay Bay is a famous casino that has finished 1.6m square foot convention center.
The importance of casino hotels in a lodging industry cannot be ignored. Many discussions have been taken place between the hotel companies and its owners with the casino operators regarding the operations of lodging of casino hotels. Nowadays, two most prestigious companies that are an active partner with casino companies. One example is Hyatt Corporation which is a partner of Lake Resort in Las Vegas. Also Mandalay Corporation wanted to have a partner for its hotel company who can effectively deal with prestigious clientele therefore; they opted for Four Seasons which is a strong brand name in Luxury hotel. They were considered as unique partners, one of them operate casino and the other deals with the top class customers. Both have no interest on each other area of work. Thus, it was a win-win situation for these two companies since both the companies are using their names in advertising and utilizing their expertise .
Casino hotel is opposite to the traditional lodging sector. In the last two years, many cataclysmic events proved to be a disaster to the lodging industry. Such events occurred after terrorist attack as consequences of war against terror, the war going on in Afghanistan and Iraq epidemic of SARS and last but not the least a bad economy. The security issue nowadays is a big question mark for the government and businesses like hotel and lodging industry. It has also badly affected the skittish traveling by the tourists. Everyone is now trying to limit their traveling whether it is domestic or international and are vacating near to home so has declined the demand of hotel and motel. But on the other hand, casino industry is still flourishing .
There is a report of a reliable and most respected news reporter that there is always a new building of a casino or a casino hotel every day. One factor associated with this every day new building of a casino tower is that its revenue is not associated with the revenue of hotel. This industry of casino deals with a gambling on human nature which cannot be changed at all. Even when the time and circumstances of the country or a human is not going smooth, they do seek entertainment and escapism and gets attracted to such gambling. This number is going to be multiplied, as the industry’s investor is confident on its profitability. Conventional lodging are now applicable to that of casino hotels therefore, some practices and implementation of technology developed by casino hotels have now adopted those traditional concept hotels .
Advantages and Disadvantages of Casinos
One of the foremost advantages is that of entertainment factor. Casino nowadays is not just a gambling area but it has other hotel like facilities also such as sports complex, departmental stores, theme parks and restaurants for other family members to enjoy. These are the attractions for more visitors and family members and thus increase income for the owner. Second important advantage is the increase in tourism. Casinos nowadays attracts more tourists and visitors for other attractions and facilities also rather than gambling because of its transformation into an entertainment sector. Visitors from all across the world just don’t come to play gamble but also to get married and even watch the most anticipated wrestling match.
Employment facilities provided by these casinos increases the overall rate of employment in the country and therefore facilitate nearby communities. Different workers are recruited to take a special care for the number of facilities they provide to their customers. From a cleaner to a sweeper, manager to an assistant, guards to chefs all are required with a handsome amount of money and rewarding careers .
Cities get developed from the development of infrastructure of the nearby business areas. Profit earned from local services increases the tax rate for the city which increases the development of it consequently. Many transportation facilities, medical health centers, restaurants and hotels are built near the surrounding of casino which develop the city as a whole and also expands to accommodate further structures related to it. This in turn benefits all the casino owners too with an increasing number of tourists and visitors to play gamble or to have entertainment.
There are some disadvantages too along with these few advantages related to casino’s presence in a city. Crime factor is one of the most dangerous and talked about disadvantage when it comes to casino and hotels. The areas that possess more of casinos are said to have an increasing number of crime rate. Although the gambling rules are very strict and rigid but the factor of cheating still persists and even some operators of gambling do not bother to pay taxes on a regular bases. In some improper casinos, the drug consumption rate is also very high and alcohol is also very common. Even prostitution activities exist which is unacceptable to the families of many people .
There are few gamblers who not only play just for the sake of playing and having fun but they are addicted to gambling and thus their family life and their family members suffer a lot. While many institutions are now running just to overcome this addiction such as addiction of drug and alcohol but many of the experts says that it is better not to have casinos near the communities so as to prevent them to get addicted.
All these pros and cons are observed by the residents of the communities that live near hotel casinos. But the fact remains that the pros are more in number than the cons, but the cons are so significant that it cannot be ignored. Casinos therefore can be an entertainment factor but can ruin some individual’s family and life .
Benefits of casinos in hotels
One of the most prominent advantages of casino in a hotel is that all the gamblers can take their families to hotels for their entertainment too as well. They also can have the facility to stay in the hotel and spend more time having fun. In hotels where casinos are built is said to be more preferred by the gamblers so as to avail both the facilities that of hotel such as business and other social service facility, swimming, proper accommodation with a bathroom, bed, cupboard, food from restaurant and even Jacuzzi along with the gaming and gambling facility.
Many guests that come to visit the one who is staying at the hotel can pass their time having entertainment in casinos. Many of them that come to visit the visitors also seek entertainment and want to have experience in the casino too. There are several visitors who come to have a small meeting for business or just have a connecting flight for other destination. In such case, they can have a good time pass in casino where the game is interesting and the reward is self-pleasing and entertaining. Friends in a team having a good company can also enjoy the experience in casino and have a good earning in the shortest period if luck prevails.
The flow of visitors is the most in hotels as compared to other lodging areas such as motel and guest houses. Many visitors who don’t intend to visit casino in particular can also get attracted when their food is not served in hotel or when their guests are coming late and they need to spend their time in some fun activity. So the rush in hotel is much more as compared to other residents and therefore many unintended customers also enter the casinos just to get entertainment along with the hotel facility .
Conclusion
In a nutshell, both casinos and hotels get advantage with each other. There is a win-win situation for both the casinos and hotels. Those visitors who intends to have a hotel facility such as staying there temporary get benefitted by the casino facility also if present in the hotel. Similarly, casino gets more customers when they are in an area where there are many customers coming in on daily basis. Themed casinos are a center of attention for the hotel customers while luxurious hotels attract more customers towards the casino. Therefore, nowadays many luxurious hotels are considered to be empty without beautiful decorated casinos as being the most entertaining area for guests.
Works Cited
Benson, Bruce L. and Paul R. Zimmermann. Handbook on the Economics of Crime. Camberley: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010. Print.
Boss, Derk J. and Alan W. Zajic. Casino Security and Gaming Surveillance. London: Taylor & Francis, 2010. Print.
Chon, K. S. and Thomas A. Maier. Welcome to Hospitality: An Introduction. Stamford: Cengage Learning, 2009. Print.
Farleigh, Richard. Comparative Advantages. Botany: iMinds Pty Ltd, 2005. Print.
Jack, D. Ninemeier. Discovering Hospitality And Tourism: The World'S Greatest Industry. Mumbai: Pearson Education India, 2008. Print.
Kilby, Jim, Jim Fox and Anthony F. Lucas. Casino Operations Management. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2006. Print.
Pizam, Abraham and Judy Holcomb. International Dictionary of Hospitality Management. London: Routledge, 2012. Print.
Pizam, Abraham. International Encyclopedia of Hospitality Management. London: Routledge, 2012. Print.
Talwar, Prakash. Hotel And Hospitality Management: Housekeeping. Delhi: Gyan Books, 2006. Print.
Timothy, Dallen and Victor Teye. Tourism and the Lodging Sector. London: Routledge, 2009. Print.
Ubani, Dr. Hospitality and Tourism Human Relations Management in Africa. Bloomington: AuthorHouse, 2012. Print.
Yeakey, Carol Camp. Living on the boundaries. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing, 2012. Print.
