Inside Asian Gaming

JUly 2015 inside asian gaming 31 CASINO MARKETING There is a lot of talk in the industry about that right now. Our database is absolutely getting older and I agree that our lower tiers are eroding. We need ways to bring people in, whether it is through better pools or entertainment or whatever it may be. I know we have seen this before, at least I have in my 23 years in the business, but it is becoming more exacerbated now because there are so many more entertainment options. THE FUTURE OF FREE PLAY: Mr Barber: From a Millennial customer standpoint, the amenities are very important. What is interesting from our perspective… is that the younger customer is willing to pay for this experience. They are not necessarily being investment driven toward this spending; this is not the generation that expects to get a coupon in the mail. You can have some pricing premiums on products and services if they are meaningful and attractive to this demographic. Mr Hoskins: I haven’t found a guest yet that doesn’t want to use a coupon. But I agree that we are learning how to monetize some amenities. In the past, when I started, everything was built around slots and tables, and everything else was just a big buffet. So in established markets, it is a little slower to come, but I think it is coming… we are going to see a switch from gaming to non-gaming. When we opened up in Lake Charles, La., there was a lot of non-gaming spend. There still is… that Houston crowd comes over every week and they spend money and are not scared to spend more; at our Blue Martini high-end nightclub they often buy a bottle for $2,500, sit down and party. In our meetings, instead of just thinking about free play and coupons and how we are going to drive the younger generation in, we instead talk about how we are going to transition them to the table games and slots part of the business. Mr Lucas: As you see gaming proliferate throughout the country in these regional markets, what happens is that if you don’t have much in the way of non-gaming amenities, you really have nothing else to give that guest but free play. That did work at first, but now it has gotten out of control. I think that non-gaming amenities are critical—it is what the guest wants, we have seen that. It started in Las Vegas originally, but we have certainly seen that in some of our markets and in particular where we just opened in Cleveland. The non- gaming amenity revenue has been huge for us. It allows us to offer other things to the guests instead of free play. But our competitor doesn’t really have that, so they continue to push the free play. So I think the way to get away from free play is to have other “…When we go to our hotel rooms, we use two or three devices. We pull out our laptop, iPhones and iPads. We want to make sure all three are streaming quickly and that we have the right bandwidth and all that. That is what everyone wants… you do not need to be a Millennial to appreciate quick and easy access to electronic devices.” Susan Varnes | Treasure Bay Casino Resort “I think you will see changes in slot and gaming floor layout that will be more appealing to the Millennials and what they like. They are into communal and social media, so that will have to be integrated in. People want an entertainment experience, so I think you will see less of slots in a box and more of full service facilities with lots of non-gaming amenities.” Jon Lucas | Hard Rock International