For meeting planners deciding between several gaming facilities, Native American casinos may be their best bet. Indian casinos offer historical and cultural touch points, and the prices tend to be more reasonable.
Tribal operations also are boosting their meeting and event appeal, making Indian gaming resorts poised to offer amenities and advantages that many commercial gaming resorts can’t match.
Even Indian gaming resorts that don’t have a casino on-property usually have one nearby. In New Mexico, the Pueblo of Pojoaque built both the Buffalo Thunder Resort & Casino and the non-gaming Hilton Santa Fe Golf Resort & Spa at Buffalo Thunder in 2008. The adjoining properties are marketed jointly, explains Hilton Director of Sales and Marketing Christine Windle.
“We have all the benefits of being a Hilton with all the advantages of being part of the Pueblo,” she says. “There is a lot of money being made on the casino floor, and that creates financial support for the rest of the resort. It brings prices down and the level of our facilities—from meeting rooms and AV to guest rooms and F&B—up.”
She continues, “that provides a huge advantage for planners. Most resorts would rather have rooms go empty than cut rate; I would rather have my rooms occupied than empty.”
The combined destination offers 395 luxury rooms, 66,000 square feet of meeting space and another 30,000 square feet of outdoor group space. Artwork by more than 80 Native artists from around New Mexico creates a strong sense of Native American place. The experience is one of living, working and meeting in a very practical, highly functional art gallery that echoes the rugged Sangre de Christo and Jemez Mountains just outside.
Near Phoenix, the Gila Indian River Community, an alliance of the Pima and Maricopa tribes, took a different direction. The tribe started with the Wild Horse Pass Hotel & Casino, but what began as a small operation grew into a full casino and entertainment center, 12,000 square feet of meeting space and 242 rooms.
Rather than expanding the casino, the Gila Indian River Community built the non-gaming Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort and Spa next door. Wild Horse Pass focuses on gaming as well as live entertainment. The property provides golf, spa and equestrian center, 180,000 square feet of meeting space and 500 rooms. A free shuttle links the two properties; the trip is about a mile door-to-door.
“We market the whole destination as a place for meetings,” says Wildhorse Public Relations Director Melody Wolcott. “Attendees staying at the Sheraton have a full gaming and entertainment experience. Attendees here shuttle to the Five Diamond/Five Star spa and dining experience at the Sheraton. Everyone uses the two golf courses, spa, equestrian center, desert interpretive trail, the Rawhide Western Town & Steakhouse and nearby attractions like the Bondurant School of Performance Driving.”
Different Strokes
In Spokane, Wash., Mimi Hall-Gustafson, director of hotel sales & marketing for Northern Quest Resort & Casino, emphasizes flexibility.
“Planners love it because we give them flexibility,” she says. “We compete with destination resorts, not with casinos. We understand attrition clauses and mid-week rates, and we work to make the property work for our planners. The kinds of things you expect to pay for at a Four Diamond resort—Wi-Fi service, bottled water, parking, airport shuttle, AV fees—are all included.”
She concludes, “It’s a luxury experience that doesn’t nickel and dime the planner.”
Growing into Meetings
Almost every Native American gaming resort started on a small scale, says industry analyst Alan Meister, PhD, at Nathan Associates. Most opened as bingo parlors, slot shacks, card rooms or other small operations after the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians beat the state of California in a 1987 U.S. Supreme Court battle, he says. By 2010, the most current data available, Indian gaming was a $26.7 billion industry.
Indian casino revenues have been gaining on commercial casino revenues since 1994, regardless of ups and downs in the economy, he continues. In 2010, Indian gaming revenues grew by 1.3 percent while commercial casino revenue dropped 0.1 percent.
Tribes also produced $3.2 billion in non-gaming revenues in 2010. Casino-plus-resort is a winning combination for tribes as well as planners, says Meister.
“You are seeing a more rounded resort and meeting product, not just gaming,” he asserts. “But some tribes just don’t have the geographic location to support a major resort. Market reality means that some will continue to focus on regional markets.”
But market reality is what a sales manager makes of it.
For tribal operations with large drive markets, such as Palm Springs, meetings may represent just 5 percent of the market.
But as resort inventory grows, so does the need for meetings. Groups help boost mid-week occupancy, giving planners leverage to negotiate attrition fees, cancellation fees, F&B minimums, room rate and almost anything else.
“We can give planners a very flexible attrition clause, or even waive it,” says Shawn Sande, director of sales at Cabazon-owned Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Palm Springs. “Group business is key for us, especially mid-week business. I’ll do whatever I can to get those 20- to 100-room groups. Planners are starting to see that we’ll be flexible in order to accommodate them.”
Meetings Are ‘Vital’
In New Mexico, Steve DeFelice, director of sales and marketing for the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort and Spa, says meetings are absolutely vital. The Santa Ana Pueblo, which owns the Hyatt and sits halfway between Santa Fe and Albuquerque, has a small drive market.
Tribal competitors in Albuquerque and Santa Fe vie for the same planners as the property, which features 350 pueblo-style rooms, the Tamaya Cultural Center, a tribal-themed spa, 21,000 square feet of indoor function space, a 12,000-square-foot ballroom and 50,000 square feet of outdoor space.
“We are one of the only branded resorts in the state,” DeFelice explains. “Meetings and events are critical to our success.”
Tribes expanding into the resort market have created a bonanza for planners. While not every tribe turns its resort into a living art gallery, cultural heritage is a key element for most.
Outside Pendleton, Ore., Wildhorse Resort & Casino recently hosted the U.S. Women’s Boxing Olympic trials. The owner, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, celebrated the winners with a traditional blanket ceremony that included unique Pendleton blankets, considered to be historic Native American treasures. The ceremony can only be performed by the tribe, creating a special experience for attendees, and unlike commercial gaming centers, using a tribal destination lessens the chance of attendees wandering around town.
“Everything is under one roof,” sales executive Melody Miller says. “You can turn people loose for meals or golf or gaming without worrying about losing them. It helps planners think a little differently.”
Michael Potts, director of sales for the Spa Resort Casino in Palm Springs and the Agua Caliente Casino/Resort/Spa, in nearby Rancho Mirage, has an equally prosaic attitude. Tribal affiliation is a plus, but his planner customers focus on the meeting experience first and last.
“We sit atop the hot springs that gave Palm Springs its name,” he says. “Every proposal mentions the Agua Caliente tribal name and the influence is clear. But most planners use us for our service, facilities and reputation.”
The former property features 340 rooms, a 13,000-square-foot conference center and a spa; the latter has 228 guest rooms, 4,000 square feet of meeting space plus a 2,200-seat outdoor entertainment venue.
Ericka Luna, catering manager at Pechanga Resort Casino, encourages tribal touches like blessings and tours by the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians. Nearly every group includes some sort of tribal touch in its events, she notes, but the real draws are Pechanga’s location in the Temecula Valley, the largest wine-producing area in Southern California, and the casino.
“Planners use us as an incentive to help increase attendance,” she says. “Not being corporate-owned makes us more responsive. We don’t have the cross-selling opportunities of a national brand. That’s our incentive to personalize and customize everything we do.”
Tribal influence is move visible in Arizona. For planners, Native American culture and involvement are vital forces that build interest, excitement and meeting impact.
“Our tribal properties add to the exuberance of a meeting with cultural insights, culinary twists and unique settings,” says Doug McKenzie, director of communications at Visit Phoenix. “Using a tribal resort is a wonderful way for planners to add value to a meeting.”
And it doesn’t hurt that tribal holdings tend to be large.
“There aren’t a lot of Radissons surrounded by 244 acres of Arizona panorama,” says Craig Benell, director of revenue creation at the Radisson Fort McDowell Resort & Casino, owned by the Yavapai Nation.
The 246-room non-smoking property overlooks 25,000 acres of Yavapai desert and provides 20,000 square feet of indoor function space, plus 30,000 square feet of outdoor space on the edge of Scottsdale. Adventure is the key, Benell says, with activities such as cattle drives, trail rides, jeep tours, kayaking, outdoor cookouts, Native American storytelling and dance, cultural food tastings and nature walks—in addition to golf packages and more familiar group options—are on tap.
“The Yavapai culture makes us more than a Radisson, it makes meeting here a broader experience than you would expect at a more conventional resort,” Benell says.
Meetings are important to Benell. They provide up to 70 percent of his business on an annual basis.
“We have a very large base of competition in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area, with very quality operations,” he says. “Planners are seeing the difference in tribal offerings.”
Fred Gebhart is a frequent contributor to Meetings Focus West.
