Casinos operating in the Atlantic City, New Jersey are looking to hit the ground running in 2023 and put behind the negative effect of Covid-19. The resort town makes plans to recover from the losses of previous years and return to Pre-Covid era. The city’s plans towards improving their marketability give operators in the town a positive outlook for how profitable 2023 will be for them.
In a media conference with the Associated Press, Mark Giannantonio, President of Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City and head of the Casino Association of New Jersey (CANJ), said that he has high hopes for 2023 though he is well aware of the challenges ahead. He explained while 2022 was a year of high inflation rates and economic hardships, he is optimistic things will begin to get back to normal this year for the town. One of the sources of his optimism include local efforts to make the town look more attractive to tourists and investments into creating more tourist attractions. For him,“That’s going to add a new level of confidence. Our customers will see a difference, and hopefully, that will lead to more visitation,” he added.
The nine casinos in Atlantic City recorded a total of $2.57 billion for the first 11 months of 2022, but while that is an improvement on 2019 pre-pandemic numbers, the inflation has vastly reduced their profit margins due to increased overhead. This does not however deter the casinos’ move to invest in renovations, additions and more entertainment centers.
Leading the way with this is Caesars Entertainment, which already has additional hotel rooms, entertainment and restaurant projects in three of its locations in the city. Hardrock is planning to invest $30 million on live entertainment while Resorts will invest $10 million on hotel room and casino floor upgrades. Golden Nugget and Ocean Casino Resort will also invest in their infrastructure.
Local efforts such as public cleaning of the town’s beaches and the major $100 million Showboat hotel is one of the town’s means of attracting tourists to get more revenue in 2023. The 100,000-square-foot Showboat waterpark will feature state-of-the-art waterslides, lazy rivers, pools, and surf machines.