Your comments were sorely disappointing!
[As noted in this article: Gov. Deval Patrick says tourism is key to Massachusetts economy ]
We've all made BAD decisions that were based on flawed data or reports that were slanted (such as the Spectrum Report you commissioned that cost Massachusetts taxpayers $189,000, hard earned tax dollars), or even on your wife's employment at Ropes and Gray.
At a certain point, the wise reflect on those decisions, carefully consider widely available information and the experiences of others, and recognize their error.
One might only hope that would include you.
The 50 Mile Rule Every time a new venue is opened, problems associated with problem gambling will double within a 50- to 60-mile radius of the casino. Those problems take the form of white-collar crimes, such as embezzlement, spousal abuse and child abuse. “What happens when a new casino opens is those who haven’t been inclined to travel for a casino, will,” Witri said.
In the past, I have blogged about tourism, in particular about Gettysburg -
Solid data show that when casinos come to heritage tourism towns, visitation to the historic resource plummets as it did in Vicksburg, Miss., where 40 percent of the historic downtown is now shuttered.
And I began a whole category -- Lack of Tourism
"You said 150 to 200 times a year," he repeated. "That's three to four times a week, essentially."
"Yes," Jonas confirmed, most of his players fit that profile.
In fact, because Parx players tend to live within 20 miles of Street Road, many go even more frequently. "We have customers," Jonas boasted, "who give us $25, $30 five times a week."
From: Casinos: Limited Tourism Benefit [from our friends to our north in New Hampshire who seem to have more sense than Beacon Hill]
A significant matter for policy makers evaluating legalized slot machines and casinos is whether they will draw most customers from larger distances, thus importing new tourist dollars and exporting social and economic costs -- or like almost every gambling venue in the United States, whether they will draw eighty plus percent of customers from the surrounding resident population.
The effect is merely to transfer wealth and disposable consumer income from existing local restaurants, movie theaters, car dealerships and food stores to casino owners and to burden New Hampshire with social and economic costs.
Here is data from several studies disproving any claim that video slots casinos will enhance New Hampshire tourism.
· 95 percent of patrons at the Bangor, Maine casino live within 35-50 miles.
97 percent live in Maine. (Maine Public Broadcasting Network, Interview with Mike Peters, April 13, 2007).
· A survey of Illinois riverboat gamblers conducted in 1995 found that 85 percent lived within 50 miles of the floating casino at which they were gambling.1
· A study by Iowa State University reported that 94 percent of gamblers at the Prairie Meadows Race Track and Casino in Des Moines came from within the state; nearly two-thirds came from the county in which the racetrack is located.2
· A survey of gamblers inside a Kansas City, Missouri, casino found that 88 percent lived within 45 minutes of the casino.3
Another survey of Kansas City casinos, which are located on or near the Missouri River across from the Kansas border, found that 94 percent of cars in the casino parking lots bore either Missouri or Kansas license plates.4
· Eighty percent of Wisconsin casino revenues come from Wisconsin residents, according to a study released in 1995.5
· The 1995 United States Survey of Gaming and Gambling gives further evidence that casinos are primarily a local draw. The survey found that among respondents with a casino in or near their community, 40 percent gambled in the past year, compared to only 17 percent of those who lived at least 100 miles from a casino. Further, among casino gamblers, 42 percent of those with a casino in or near their community gambled at least every three months, compared with only 17 percent of casino gamblers living 100 miles away from a casino.6
· At the short-lived New Orleans land-based casino, local residents made up 60 percent of the clientele.7
· According to gambling researcher William Thompson, a professor at the University of Nevada- Las Vegas, “(Casinos) have a negative impact on the community unless 50 percent of the gamblers come from out of state.”8
1 Ricardo C. Gazel, William N. Thompson and J. Terrence Brunner, “Casino Gamblers in Illinois: Who Are They?” 1996, p. 7.
2 Cathy H.C. Hsu, “The Impact of Gambling on Iowa Tourism and Rural Businesses,” presentation at the “Gambling and the Family Conference,” Iowa State University, October 31, 1996.
3 Rick Alm, “Taking a Chance on the Boats,” Kansas City Star Magazine, June 30, 1996, p. 9.
4 Anne Lamoy, “Kansans Leave Cash at Casinos,” Kansas City Star , September 23, 1995, p. C1.
5 William Thompson, Ricardo Gazel and Dan Rickman, “The Economic Impact of Native American Gaming in Wisconsin,” Wisconsin Policy Research Institute Report , April 1995, p. 1.
6 Arthur G. Cosby, “The Proximity Factor: Results from the 1995 United States Survey of Gaming and Gambling,” Grogan Casino Report , May 1995, p. 40.
7 Amy Jinker-Lloyd, “Gambling Economic Development,” American City & County , July 1996, p. 57.
8 Ray Parker, “Gambling Is Professor’s Work,” Las Vegas Review-Journal , February 19, 1997, p. 12A.
Mayor Wesley Johnson of Ledyard, Conn.: "There has been no economic development spin-off from the casino. Businesses do not come here," Johnson said.
"Tourists come mainly to gamble. Gamblers have one thing in mind: get to the casino, win or lose their money, get in their cars, and go home."
"They tell you there will be economic development spinoff, and they will work to have that happen, but they don't want it to happen. They want it all controlled in the casino so people will stay there and gamble."....
In Christina Binkley's book, "Winner Takes All," she went into great detail about how Harrah's targeted, marketed and pursued their patrons to increase loyalty.
They offered 'comps' that provided complimentary rooms, and got little response because the patrons were LOCALS.
Casinos know their customers and they know the demographics.
You don't see a slot barn proposed in Newton or Dover or Milton.
You see slot barns proposed in poverty pockets on pretenses.
They offer 'loyalty cards' that track playing in real time.
And much else. They track their playing patterns and if a patron plays let's say once a week and fails to show, a friendly voice calls and inquires.
Professor Robert Goodman wrote extensively about slot barns quickly exhausting the supply of 'local' addicts.
So while statistics can easily be manipulated, this is an extremely profitable industry that knows the buzz words and sound bytes to use to sell their addiction.
They conduct extensive polling and testing.
That's why we need an Independent Cost Benefit Analysis. The facts prove different.
And that's why each of us needs to speak out with the facts and the impacts we simply can't afford.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment