Casinos looking to attract a more youthful clientele would be wise to invest in amenities away from the gaming floor.
A new study released Wednesday by LaneTerralever reveals that an overwhelming majority of 20- and 30-somethings are more likely to choose a casino with superior hospitality and entertainment offerings. Nearly 84% of Millenials (ages 25-40) and more than 80% of Gen Z (ages 21-24) surveyed said that a site's restaurants and bars, live entertainment, and local scene significantly impacted which casinos they opted to visit.
The numbers dwarf those of older generations, with just 65.3% of Boomers (ages 57-75) agreeing that non-gaming offerings played a major role in their decision-making process. Just over 76% of Gen X (ages 41-56) surveyed said they considered non-gaming options vital to their choice of casino. Just as significant, only 7.7% of Gen Z and 7.9% of Millenials said off-site options had little impact on their decisions, compared with 15.4% of Gen X and 20.2% of Boomers.
And which non-gaming amenities matter most? Restaurants and bars are considered the top option for local casinos (within 90 minutes of a player's residence) at 40.9%, followed by live entertainment at 23.2% and hotel amenities at 16%. The top three is the same for destination casinos (restaurants/bars, 32.6%; live entertainment, 21.7%; hotel amenities, 19%).
“Our study underscores the prevalence of the experience economy and how important it is for casino operators to continue to hone and expand their experiential and entertainment-focused offerings, particularly to attract the attention of younger generations and maintain long-term loyalty of all players,” said Nick Dan-Bergman, vice-president of marketing at LaneTerralever.
Traveling in groups
The study, done in partnership with UNLV College of Hospitality professor Anthony F. Lukas, revealed a host of other intriguing trends involving gaming and non-gaming habits – among them, more people than ever before are visiting casinos in groups. A whopping 80% of survey respondents said they visit local casinos with others, while 87% travel in groups to destination casinos.
In terms of which hotel brands are doing it right, two appear to have a major edge in terms of destination casino appeal. The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino (21%) was selected as the destination gaming venue with the best non-gaming offers, followed closely by MGM Resorts International (20%). Caesars Entertainment (14%) was a distant third.
Other notable results from the study:
- Nearly 80% of respondents considered "affluent" (with a household income of $100,000 or more) say non-gaming features play a significant role in their travel decisions, compared with 73.2% of non-affluent players. They also consider live entertainment more important than any other survey segment.
- Roughly 58% of players prefer online betting to in-person wagering. Strikingly, however, while 65% of men favor online betting, women respondents were nearly split down the middle, with just 51.2% choosing online over in-person.
- 70% of Millenials say non-gaming activities affect their loyalty for a venue, compared with just 58% of Boomers.
