United States
Off the Strip: Regional Gaming Locales Are Incentive Options
By William Ng
August 10, 2010
Many organizations remain conservative with their business travel and are staying closer to home for off-site activities. Regional casinos, therefore, have become a fit and are presenting themselves as value-added places for meetings and incentives. Some companies are even starting to organize blended events colloquially known as “meetcentives.”
Regional casinos are typically the primary social and entertainment hubs in suburban locales, and are usually within a drive’s reach or a short flight from major metropolises. With companies still gripping their purse strings, these resorts are aggressively selling their benefits of allowing groups to get to the destination in a shorter time, conduct business in an energetic resort environment, and enjoy a variety of travel rewards under one roof. Groups can take advantage of their large ballrooms and meeting spaces, casinos, shows, nightlife, spas, and fine dining options.
“Regional and drive-in events are [our strongest business] since companies do not want to spend money on airfare,” says Joan Esneault, vice president of resort sales for the sprawling Foxwoods gaming resort complex in Mashantucket, CT, situated between New York and Boston. “Companies in the Northeast that used to plan outside [the region] are looking in their backyard. We are concentrating our sales efforts in the Northeast for regional business.”
Tulalip Resort Casino, a AAA Four Diamond, 370-room gaming property that opened in August 2008 about a half-hour north of Seattle, has benefited from the boom in regional group business by offering a product that hadn’t been available in Snohomish County, according to sales director Troy Longwith. “We’re really the first full-service luxury hotel and casino in the area,” he says. “We’re competing against downtown Seattle hotels.”
“They’re drawn to the fact that the casino provides an entertainment option, but we also meet their agendas because our meeting space is located on its own,” Longwith adds of meeting and incentive groups that have used the Tulalip.
“We have the wow factor, while we help groups stay in budget,” notes Catinna Leaks, director of hotel sales of the 1,000-room L’Auberge du Lac Casino Resort, of her property in Lake Charles, LA, two hours from Houston.
Many groups desire off-site diversions and team-building activities to go with the casino and entertainment that gaming resorts provide. As a result, in Lake Charles and other destinations rich in the outdoors, hospitality suppliers also trumpet such recreational staples as fishing, boating, and golf. But L’Auberge has an on-property, 18-hole championship golf course. Designed by renowned golf-course architect Tom Fazio, the venue was renovated and reintroduced last month.
Value-Adds, Concessions, And Fast Turnarounds
In the current fiscal crunch, a fact of life is that corporations are booking meetings and incentives in a much shorter window of time, as they vet all activities before approving monies and also hunt for group deals. Gaming resorts say some groups are booking as close as one month out, and the competition to win their business is intense. For buyers, it is practically open season, as they can expect suppliers to push deals and give significant concessions.
One such area is attrition. Christopher Perry, vice president of hotel sales and marketing for the popular Mohegan Sun destination casino resort in Uncasville, CT, notes, “Groups that have been conservative with room blocks are requesting more rooms as contracts come to fruition, as they’re discovering greater attendance. We’re being flexible with that.”
“As this prolonged economic slump continues, it puts a little more hurt on suppliers,” says Perry. “Groups are looking everywhere for deals and getting offers. We’re certainly more attractive in our pricing versus two years ago, and we’re offering rebates, waived fees, and comped function space rentals.”
“They are shopping for bargains,” Esneault says of buyers. Among the incentives that Foxwoods and MGM Grand at Foxwoods offer, she points out, are food and beverage discounts, suite upgrades, airport transportation assistance, and discounts on shows like Legends In Concert and Cirque Dreams. “Our rates, catering prices… and outdoor space are superior to city properties in the Northeast.”
Valerie Morris, mid-South regional vice president of sales, communications, and community relations for Harrah’s Entertainment, says the company’s three properties in Tunica, MS—Harrah’s Tunica, Horseshoe Casino & Hotel, and Tunica Roadhouse Casino & Hotel—offer various value packages depending on group size, including complimentary transportation to and from the airport, parking, turndown service, and welcome amenities and receptions.
“What these value incentives have done is entice groups to book a little earlier,” explains Leaks, of moves such as complimentary welcome receptions and continental breakfasts and more flexible attrition agreements at L’Auberge.
Others, like Tulalip, are “building in” value with free in-room Wi-Fi and bottled water, as well as valet parking. “We made a conscious decision to put in the latest state-of-the-art projectors and drop-down screens and not charge planners for AV,” Longwith adds. “Little things add up in this economy, and they are not things we will take away when the economy gets better. I think we’re building some loyalty here.”
Planners requiring small events with short lead times can also expect heightened levels of service from regional gaming resorts. “We are making a concerted effort to win more [group] business…we have hired additional regional sales managers to work in our regional markets,” says Harrah’s Entertainment’s Morris.
“We’ve redistributed resources to handle the shorter turnarounds,” says Leaks, noting that L’Auberge has inside sales personnel who handle groups with 25 or fewer peak room nights booking within 60 days.
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