Fewer Atlantic City casino-goers

Fewer Atlantic City casino-goers but they're upping the ante for hotels, drinks, food

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - Finally, some good news after four years of slumping revenues: Even though fewer people are coming to the nation's second-largest gambling resort, they're spending more cash on things that don't involve gambling.

Spending on hotel rooms, meals, concerts and nightclubs has increased even as the gambling take has dropped for Atlantic City's 11 casinos, where the number of total visitors fell from 34,534,000 in 2006 to 30,381,000 last year.

The amount of money gamblers have lost at slot machines and card and roulette tables is down 23 percent since 2007, according to a study by Gaming Industry Observer, a publication by Spectrum Gaming Group, an Atlantic City-area casino consulting firm. But gamblers' spending on hotel rooms is up 21 percent and food and drink is up 6 percent.