Despite the strapped economy, there is still plenty of action on the gaming development front in the South.
Dazzling new Native American casino and entertainment palaces have been expanding and opening in Oklahoma, propelling the state into the South’s top gaming revenue producer, ahead of Mississippi and Louisiana.
West Virginia has its first non-racetrack casino—and it is at an iconic AAA Five Diamond resort. North Carolina has one of the country’s largest casino expansion projects under way. Alabama got its first casino resort less than two years ago.
Gaming growth has also spurred competition, ensuring good values for meetings and events. For example, Louisiana and Oklahoma are vying for business from Texas and other non-gaming states, and Mississippi and Florida casinos are competing for business from northwest Florida.
Mississippi
With 30 casinos spread along the Gulf Coast and on the Mississippi River in a handful of communities from Tunica in the north down to Natchez in the south, the Magnolia State is the South’s top commercial (non-Native American) gaming state in gaming revenues, taking in $2.47 billion last year.
Along the Mississippi Gulf Coast there are 11 casinos, nine with hotels. With 5,558 rooms, they account for almost half the destination’s 12,000 guest rooms and most hotel meeting space. However, the region is still over 4,000 rooms short of the amount it had before Katrina struck in 2005.
In July last year, Biloxi’s Mississippi Coast Coliseum and Convention Center unveiled its $70 million expansion, increasing its total meeting and exhibition space from 180,000 square feet to 400,000 square feet. In the fall it completed a renovation of existing space.
"The majority of business at the convention center has been regional and state associations. Before Katrina, the convention center was beginning to get into the national meetings market, and we’re starting to see that pick up again," says Crystal Johnson, director of sales for the Mississippi Gulf Coast CVB.
The expanded convention center opened last year with the hosting of the annual state governor’s conference, and last fall drew 1,200 attendees to Oceans 2009, a Marine Technology Society conference. According to Johnson, concerns over the Deep Horizon oil spill have not affected the meetings market.
The area’s largest meetings property is MGM Resort’s 1,740-room Beau Rivage Resort & Casino, which has 50,000 square feet of meeting space, a 2,100-slot casino and 12 restaurants.
Steps from the Beau Rivage and across from the beach, the new 195-room Four Points by Sheraton Biloxi Beach Boulevard opened this summer.
The 1,088-room IP Casino Resort & Spa has 37,379 square feet of meeting space, doubling the capacity with the opening of a new showroom early last year. A $45 million expansion and upgrade is under way at the 236-room Palace Casino Resort in Biloxi. Scheduled to be completed next year, it will include 1,000 more slots and a new 300-seat buffet.
Other gaming properties on the coast with meeting space include the Grand Biloxi Casino Hotel, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Isle Casino Hotel and Treasure Bay Casino & Hotel.
Long billed as the "Casino Capital of the South," Tunica is the South’s largest commercial casino market. It has 10 Mississippi riverside casino hotels, with a total of 5,891 rooms.
A new branding by the Tunica CVB includes a regional advertising program with a new slogan, "Live it Up Just Down the Road."
Bill Cantor, CVB director of sales and marketing, says the destination is pretty much holding its own considering the economy, although the number of meetings held last year was down after a substantial increase in 2008.
"The casinos have done a good job in renovating and keeping up. Small golf groups are growing in leaps and bounds. River cruises and spas are popular," he says.
"We go after regional associations. Arkansas has been a strong market for us—Little Rock is closer than Jackson. And with new air service we are going after groups in the Atlanta and Georgia market," he adds.
Tunica’s largest meetings casino property is the 1,356-room Harrah’s Casino Tunica, with its Mid South Convention Center providing over 45,000 square feet of meeting space. Formerly the Grand Casino Resort, the property was rebranded two years ago following a $45 million renovation.
Harrah’s also operates the 500-room Horseshoe Tunica and the 134-suite Tunica Roadhouse Casino & Hotel, formerly the Sheraton Casino & Hotel, which was rebranded with a new theme in December.
Mississippi’s one Native American casino, Pearl River Resort near Philadelphia, includes two casino hotels, the 571-room Golden Moon and the 500-room Silver Star. The property also has a 140-room Hilton Garden Inn, 16 restaurants, 40,000 square feet of meeting space and 36 holes of golf.
Louisiana
With one land-based casino, 13 riverboat casinos and four racinos, Louisiana has a commercial casino industry almost as large as Mississippi’s. Gaming revenues totaled $2.46 billion last year, down 5 percent from 2008, when there was a slight increase over 2007. It also has three Native American casinos.
Straddling the Red River, Shreveport and Bossier City make up Louisiana’s largest commercial casino market and the South’s third largest. Hub of the Ark-La-Tex region, it has five riverside casinos, all with hotels and meeting space, and a racino.
Now in the third year of rebranding the destination as "Louisiana’s Other Side," the Shreveport-Bossier Convention & Tourist Bureau reports stellar visitor and convention results for 2009. The average hotel occupancy stood at 68.4 percent, up from 67.9 percent in 2008. The destination hosted 386 conventions last year, up 17.4 percent over 2008, and the 119,558 delegates were up 58 percent.
According to Kim Brice, vice president of convention marketing for the bureau, occupancies increased despite a 5.8 percent increase in new limited-service rooms opening.
"We’ve been doing very well. It’s good to be Shreveport-Bossier right now," she says.
Within walking distance of the 350,000-square-foot convention center are two casinos: the 514-room Sam’s Town, with 18,000 square feet of meeting space, and the 403-room Eldorado, with 6,200 square feet.
Across the river, Bossier City has the 570-room DiamondJacks, with 20,000 square feet of meeting space; the 188-room Boomtown, with 2,400 square feet; and the 600-room Horseshoe Casino & Hotel, with 3,797 square feet.
New Orleans, the South’s fifth-largest commercial market, has the land-based Harrah’s New Orleans, providing 115,000 square feet of gaming, a 500-seat theater and a 450-room hotel near the Morial Convention Center.
Two metro-area riverboats are Treasure Chest, adjacent to Kenner’s 46,000-square-foot Pontchartrain Center, and Boomtown Casino New Orleans, with 4,000 square feet of meeting space.
Lake Charles, a two-hour drive from metro Houston, is the South’s fourth-largest commercial casino destination.
It has Pinnacle Entertainment’s 1,000-room L’Auberge du Lac Hotel & Casino, with 28,000 square feet of meeting space, and the 400-room Isle of Capri, with 14,500 square feet. L’Auberge opened a 250-room addition in early 2008.
"We have been both lucky and strategic regarding the economy," says L’Auberge spokeswoman Kerry Andersen. "We believe we are grabbing new customers who once went to Las Vegas and are now scaling back on travel plans and driving from Houston—our key demographic market—to get the same Vegas-like experience."
In April, Pinnacle announced the cancellation of its proposed 400-room Sugarcane Bay, a casino resort adjacent to L’Auberge. However, the company reaffirmed its commitment to building a hotel casino in Baton Rouge with 100-plus rooms.
In central Louisiana in Marksville, the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe’s Paragon Casino Resort features a 2,000-slot casino, 531 guest rooms and an 18-hole golf course. Meeting space includes the Mari Convention Center, which has a 2,600-seat showroom and an 8,000-square-foot ballroom.
Florida
Florida now has eight Native American casinos, seven of them operated by the Seminoles and one by the Miccosukee Tribe. A number of its Native American casinos converted from Class II gaming (bingo-style gaming machines) to Class III Las Vegas-style slots and table games in 2008, producing double-digit revenue growth.
The Seminoles’ seven casinos include two resorts: the 500-room Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood, which has 40,000 square feet of meeting space, and 250-room Seminole Hard Rock Tampa, with 10,000 square feet.
Florida’s other casino resort, the 302-room Miccosukee Resort & Gaming west of Miami, has 46,000 square feet of meeting space and 27 holes of golf.
According to Casino City’s 2009-2010 Indian Gaming Report, released in December, Florida’s Native American casinos produced revenues of $1.9 billion in 2008, up 19 percent over 2007, which showed only a 2 percent increase.
New slots and table games were installed at the two AAA Four Diamond Hard Rock properties and southwest Florida’s Seminole Casino Immokalee, which also unveiled a $22 million renovation and expansion, including a new 750-seat outdoor pavilion.
Oklahoma
Fast-growing Oklahoma has more than 100 gaming facilities operated by 32 tribes. While most are small, the past few years have seen some massive hotel casino projects debut.
The Sooner State geared up for expansion after 2005 legislation allowed each tribe to negotiate with the state to provide Class III gaming. Of the 28 states with Native American gaming, it now ranks third in revenues after California and Connecticut.
Oklahoma got its first casino resort only five years ago with the opening of the Cherokee Casino & Resort in Catoosa outside Tulsa, which has an adjacent 18-hole golf course.
Last year, the Cherokee Nation property was reflagged the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino following the completion of a $155 million expansion. It added 200 guest rooms, bringing the total to 350; new restaurants and lounges; and additional casino space. It also added meeting and convention space, bringing the total to 35,000 square feet, including a 15,000-square-foot ballroom. This fall it will unveil a 2,500-seat multipurpose event center.
In June, the Cherokee Casino West Siloam Springs, east of Tulsa on the Arkansas border, opened a 140-room hotel with three meeting rooms, completing a $100 million-plus project that included a casino expansion and new banquet room.
Farther north in the tri-state area outside Joplin, Mo., the Quapaw Tribe unveiled the $300 million, 222-room Downstream Casino Resort two years ago. Features include a 2,000-slot casino, six restaurants and bars, a conference center with six rooms, a 6,200-seat outdoor concert venue and a golf course.
Just north of the Texas/Oklahoma border in Thackerville, an hour’s drive from Dallas, the WinStar World Casino opened a 395-room hotel last year, completing a major expansion of what it calls the "world’s fifth largest casino." With it came three new restaurants, meeting and banquet space for up to 200 guests and a spa. Other features include a 2,500-seat events center and an 18-hole golf course.
In Durant, 100 miles from Dallas/Fort Worth, the Choctaw Nation recently unveiled the final components of a $300 million expansion of the Choctaw Casino Resort Hotel & Conference Center. It includes a 330-room hotel and an expanded casino.
West Virginia
The Mountain State has a new destination casino, its first without a racetrack: The Greenbrier. Located in White Sulphur Springs and dating to 1778, the AAA Five Diamond resort offers 721 rooms, 85,000 square feet of meeting space and three championship golf courses.
Acquired by new owners last year, it had earlier received voter approval for gaming. In July, a temporary facility, Tavern Casino, was replaced with the $80 million Casino Club at The Greenbrier, which offers slot machines, poker and table games, two restaurants, lounges and retail shops.
"The Tavern Casino has been an incredible success for us, and The Casino Club at The Greenbrier will be the most unique casino in the country due to its exclusivity and its elegance," says Todd Fishon, the resort’s vice president of casino operations. "We had record occupancy during the winter months, and our guests were able to experience all the great things The Greenbrier has to offer, plus the excitement of the casino at night."
Under law, the new casino is open only to overnight guests, members of the Greenbrier Sporting Club and the Greenbrier Golf and Tennis Club, and registered meeting attendees staying off-property when more than 400 rooms are sold.
In the Eastern Panhandle, Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races in Charles Town is the country’s second-largest racino in gaming revenues (after one in Yonkers, N.Y.) It has a 5,000-slot casino and a 153-room hotel, which opened in 2008. Meeting space includes 1,470- and 5,200-square-foot ballrooms.
Formerly called Charles Town Races & Slots, it was recently rebranded and renovated to conform to Penn National Gaming’s Hollywood casino theme for a July launch of table games. Voters in Jefferson County approved table games in December.
Other States
Undergoing a $633 million expansion scheduled for a 2012 completion, Harrah’s Cherokee Casino & Hotel, owned by the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation, is North Carolina’s only Native American casino.
Bordering the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Cherokee, the resort currently offers 576 guest rooms, a 2,700-slot Class III casino, a 9,471-square-foot ballroom and a 1,500-seat entertainment pavilion. Last September, it unveiled the Robert Trent Jones II-designed Sequoyah National Golf Club, managed by Troon Golf.
This Labor Day weekend it will open a 3,000-seat events center with Lady Antebellum headlining. Doubling the number of guest rooms, the 21-story, 532-room Creek Tower is expected to open in December along with a 400-seat Paula Deen Kitchen. Recently new parking and a motorcoach lobby and lounge also debuted.
The project includes an 18,000-square-foot spa, more restaurant and retail outlets and double the amount of current gaming space.
"As we continue to introduce exciting new facilities and resort amenities, the property will be able to offer meeting planners a world-class destination," says Leeann Bridges, vice president of marketing. "With a brand-new championship golf course already in place, A-list entertainment, new restaurants and retail, and wine and spirits served in all of our restaurants and lounges, Harrah’s Cherokee will be welcoming larger groups from all parts of the Southern region and beyond."
Alabama entered the casino resort stakes in January last year when the Poarch Band of Creek Indians opened the $250 million Wind Creek Casino & Hotel. Located near Atmore, 50 miles from Mobile, the property features a 1,600-slot casino, a 236-room hotel, four dining options and four meeting rooms that include a 3,300-square-foot ballroom.
Caribbean Region
The big news in the Bahamas is that Nassau-based Baha Mar Resorts is finally going ahead with its proposed $2.5 billion, 1,000-acre Baha Mar Resort on Cable Beach. The company, which put the project on hold in 2008 when partner Harrah’s Entertainment pulled out, operates the Wyndham Nassau Resort, the Crystal Palace Casino and the Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort. With a scheduled completion in late 2013, the project is set to break ground later this year.
Features include 3,000 rooms, a 100,000-square-foot casino, three spas, an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course, a retail village and 200,000 square feet of meeting space.
A short drive away is the Caribbean’s largest casino resort, Atlantis on Paradise Island, which has more than 1,000 slots and 80 table games and 300,000 square feet of meeting space.
Atlantis, according to recent local reports, will spend $100 million on renovations over the next two years. The makeover will include casino upgrading, suite renovations and three new restaurants.
Puerto Rico has almost 20 casinos located in hotels. Its newest, the $310 million, 503-room Sheraton Puerto Rico Convention Center Hotel & Casino, held its grand opening last November. San Juan’s first new full-service casino hotel in more than a decade features 35,000 square feet of indoor meeting space, augmenting the 580,000 square feet available at the Puerto Rico Convention Center.
The Dominican Republic has more than 20 hotel casinos.
Reflagging to become a Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, the all-inclusive Moon Palace Casino, Golf & Spa Resort Punta Cana recently announced the completion of its 65,000-square-foot conference center, which includes a 37,500-square-foot ballroom and 43 breakout rooms. The 1,000-room resort, which began opening in phases early last year, includes an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course.
Tony Bartlett has been writing for travel industry publications for over 20 years.
