For every casino CEO like J. Terrence Lanni, who comports himself in a manner befitting his standing and level of responsibility, there seem to be three others who carry on like spoiled brats. Exhibit A, Harrah’s CEO Gary Loveman, who displayed a truly loutish attitude in an American Gaming Association teleconference.
The Gulf Coast’s casino economy has come back faster than expected and you’d think Loveman would be focusing on the upside, such as the news that casino win at Harrah’s New Orleans is "within pre-Katrina figures." No, Loveman pouted about the fact that 80% of that money won from players is dropped by — Ugh! — locals. "It speaks poorly about the willingness of people to travel to New Orleans," he grumbled.
Damn those uppity tourists! How dare they stay away from a city that is still in deep disrepair and much of whose population remains displaced? Sounds like Vacation Central to me.
Loveman’s solution: "Guilt is a powerful tool here and there is absolutely no reason not to use it." Yes, because guilt is such a compelling motivator of tourism. That must be why so many people come to Las Vegas … they’re seeking to expunge their guilt! It’s a Yankee Doodle Lourdes! With slot machines. D’oh! Why didn’t I realize that sooner?
But seriously, folks … if Loveman’s theory were correct, Darfur, Indonesia and Somalia would be the world’s tourist hot spots. In any case, one has to admire Loveman’s G.W. Bush-like logic: Go to the Big Easy and gamble, gamble, gamble because it’s your civic duty, buster!
In other news, the on-again, off-again Harrah’s Biloxi project is supposedly in "on" mode once more. That vague announcement of Something Big, Sometime Soon sounds a lot like the long-deferred revelation of what Harrah’s is (possibly) going to do with its East Strip acreage (maybe someday) when it says it has something to announce (maybe never).
Forgive my skepticism but Harrah’s is about to get leveraged up to its eye teeth and still hasn’t explained its initial postponement of its Biloxi megaresort, so I’ll believe this when the shovels go into the dirt. Then again, Harrah’s has a lot of acreage in Biloxi that’s sitting empty. Also, it’s made commitments behind closed doors to Mayor A.J. Holloway, who would probably like to see some movement on that front. Also, the combined Grand Casino Biloxi/Casino Magic site has been identified as possible acquisition target, so Loveman might be trying to either dispel such talk or gin up the value of the land. Who knows?
In happier news, Harrah’s is investing $34 million in its Lake Tahoe properties. Give the company credit for going upscale and also for not throwing in the towel when confronted with serious tribal competition across the California border. The casino industry has long since absorbed the lesson that Native American casinos can field a product fully competitve with the best the private sector has to offer.
Hard Rock property sale kaput? The owners of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino have filed with Clark County to map out a "commercial subdivision" on 38.9 acres. (The hotel, casino and cafe only occupy 17.) So it sounds like Morgans Hotel Group and its partners at Credit Suisse have thrown in the towel on their efforts to sell the Paradise Bay Club land, the once (and future?) site of condo development. Besides, Mark Adams has found renderings showing an expanding Hard Rock spilling over onto the former ‘Las Ramblas’ acreage, so maybe Morgans has something even bigger up its sleeve.
