What Is a Destination Resort Casino?
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World-class entertainment, fine dining, high-end retail shops and more.
Convention and Tourism Destination
Travel, tourism, conventions and tradeshows go hand-in-hand with integrated resort casinos. Las Vegas, a city widely known for its resort casinos, is a prime example of this type of economic development. It boasts 22,000 meetings and conventions a year and hosted six of the top ten trade shows in North America in 2009 – making it the leading trade show destination for 16 consecutive years. Not to mention, the Las Vegas convention industry is responsible for 46,000 local jobs and an estimated $4.5 billion annually for the local economy. Texas is missing out on an immense opportunity for convention and tradeshow revenue that could be spurred by the facilities developed on an integrated resort casino property in Texas.
In addition to lost convention revenue, Texas is sending its tourism dollars out of the state. According to some estimates, Texans spend close to $3.5 billion annually in other states enjoying casino gaming destinations. Building integrated resort casinos in Texas will keep spending in state and bring new out-of-state and foreign tourists to take pleasure in our world renowned facilities. Texas does everything bigger and better than the competition.
Hub of Economic Development
Integrated resort casinos are a proven source of economic development across a broad spectrum of a local economy. They expand municipal and state revenues through property taxes, licensing fees, and increased collection of sales taxes. These resorts will pump billions of dollars into the local, state and regional economy through:
- Capital Improvements
- Construction Activity
- Vendor Services (wine and spirits, linens and rentals, restaurant equipment, food and produce, etc.)
- Employee Wages and Tax Revenue Also of note, an additional and collateral increase in revenue will be recognized from increased tourism and the return of Texas dollars currently being spent in neighboring states.
Job Creator
Texas leads the nation in job creation and is one of the fastest growing states in country for good reason: we make doing business in Texas easy. But in order to keep pace with the demands of a growing population, we must expand and diversify our job pool. Integrated resort casinos will provide thousands of local jobs in the construction, service, entertainment, tourism, and convention sectors. The jobs will come from three main sources from the following.
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Construction Jobs
Construction workers will be needed across a wide spectrum and in several regions, from carpentry to plumbing to highly skilled detail work.
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Resort Jobs
Destination resort casinos will employ thousands in the gaming, restaurant, service, retail, entertainment and hospitality industries.
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Support Jobs
It is expected that thousands of supporting jobs will be created as a result of destination resort casinos through increased tourism, resort employees spending their income in the community, products and services needed by the destination resort casino, and capital investment in the region.
Venue for World Class Entertainment and Events
Integrated resort casinos are luxurious vacation and recreation destinations that attract investment from around the world. These unique hotel properties are about much more than gaming and patrons can often enjoy most if not all of the following on site:
- Luxurious Hotels
- Broadway Caliber Shows
- High-End Retail Shopping
- Fine Dining
- Premier Nightclubs
- Resort Style Pools
- 5-Star Spas
- Renowned and Up-And-Coming Artists
- Top Rated Golf Courses
- Convention Facilities
- Headlining Entertainment Acts
- Exclusive Events
- Family Friendly Fun
Casinos Are Responsible Members of Our Community
The casino gaming industry has long implemented employee and public education programs to increase awareness of disordered gambling and promote responsible gaming practices, both at the company and industry-wide levels. In 1996, the National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG) was founded exclusively to devote funding to peer-reviewed scientific research to increase understanding of pathological and youth gambling, find effective methods of treatment for the disorder, and to conduct education about responsible gaming research.
More than $22 million has been committed to the NCRG through contributions from the casino gaming industry, equipment manufacturers, vendors, related organizations and individuals. And in 2000, the NCRG provided financing for the Institute for Research on Pathological Gambling and Related Disorders, a program of the Division on Addictions at the Cambridge Health Alliance, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School.
In addition, the American Gaming Association created the Responsible Gaming National Education Campaign, an industry-wide program focused on educating casino employees and the public about responsible gaming.
Plus, the AGA has also launched a series of responsible gaming public service announcements (PSAs).