Tropicana hopes to be ready when the smoke clears
By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Staff Writer, 609-272-7258
Published: Friday, July 25, 2008
ATLANTIC CITY - The folks at Tropicana Casino and Resort are asking customers a question they would normally expect to hear from their doctor: Do you smoke?This bit of prying has more to do with learning about their gambling habits than their health history. With Atlantic City's casino smoking ban coming up in October, Tropicana is collecting information that it hopes will help it gain an edge on competitors."Going into the smoking ban, we want to make sure that our facts are correct in terms of accommodating smokers versus nonsmokers," said Mary Tindall, Tropicana's vice president of marketing.Casinos are facing some expensive choices in the era of smoke-free gambling. Among them, they must decide how many smoking lounges to build off the casino floor or whether to require customers to go outside if they want to light up.So far, only Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa has announced it will go 100 percent smoke-free by having its customers smoke outside rather than in specially built indoor smoking lounges. Borgata plans to have climate-controlled smoking areas that will include an overhang to protect patrons from bad weather.
Most of the casinos will comply with the smoking ban by building indoor lounges away from the slot machines and gaming tables. Those lounges could cost millions of dollars because of a requirement for special ventilation systems to keep smoke from drifting throughout the buildings.Tropicana plans to have indoor smoking lounges, but the casino is not yet sure how many it will build and where they will be located. Hoping to find some answers, Tropicana's management conducted a smoking survey last weekend during a tournament of high-end slot players.Customers were asked do they smoke and whether the smoking ban that begins Oct. 15 will affect their gambling habits. Tropicana declined to disclose how many people were surveyed, noting that certain details would be kept secret to prevent competitors from gaining insight into its business practices.One telling statistic, however, was that 30 percent of the customers who answered the survey said they were smokers, Tindall said. For years, casino operators have been trying to gauge just how large a segment of the gambling market is made up of smokers."We really need to know who our customers are and their preferences in this economy," Tropicana spokeswoman Diane Spiers said.Casinos have been building an array of upscale hotel towers, retail shops, restaurants and nightclubs to lure more customers in the weak economy and keep them from taking their dollars to the Pennsylvania slot parlors.Atlantic City has been battered in recent months by the economic slowdown, higher gas prices and extra competition from Pennsylvania. Another factor is the loss of business blamed on the partial smoking ban. Smoking is currently limited to 25 percent of the casino floor, but the 100 percent ban starting in October will pose even more challenges for the gaming industry."We want to do what is best for our customers' needs - both smokers and nonsmokers," Tindall said.Tropicana's survey responses mirrored the broad debate raging in the country over the dangers of secondhand smoke and what smokers argue is their right to light up."Some were angry," Tindall said. "A small percentage of smokers believe that their rights are being taken away from them."Spiers, though, said most of the smokers indicated that they will use the smoking lounges. The nonsmokers expressed relief that a smoking ban is on the way, she added."With the nonsmokers, they will play more and be very happy when we go to the lounges," Spiers said.Tropicana apparently is getting a jump on its rivals on the smoking issue by conducting what may be the first survey of its type in Atlantic City. Other casinos in town said they have not done any smoking surveys or did not respond to calls seeking comment.E-mail Donald Wittkowski:DWittkowski@pressofac.com
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