What is casino tourism? In simple terms, this refers to players moving from one place to another place to play casino games. Casino tourism is not new in the world. As far back as the 19th century, players like Eleanor Dumont traveled to many different cities in America to gamble. Casino tourism could be a person making the trips or a gaming organization sponsoring an individual or a group of persons. Before the pandemic, Las Vegas, a popular state for its many premium casinos, attracted millions of casino lovers from all over the world yearly. Although casino tourism is fun, it does have its benefits and drawbacks; you will be learning these now:
What Is Casino Tourism? What Are The Benefits?
1. The Host Country Enjoys Economic Boost
As this article has explained, casino tourism means casino lovers move from one country to another to play casino games. Of course, this means that if it is self-sponsored, the player will need to have enough money to spend. Now, the player will spend their money at the casino and local shops, restaurants, boutiques, hotels, etc.
However, when it’s a gaming organization doing the sponsorship, what they spend is way higher than what a single player would spend. This is because the organization may sponsor close to five or more people. To give them a quality experience, they will pay for all expenses. Yet, players under the organization’s sponsorship can still buy souvenir items to take back home. Truly, all of these results in helping the host country’s economy grow.
2. More Employment Opportunities For The Locals
Due to many players coming for casino tours in the states, the casino needs more hands on decks to attend to them. Thus, casinos start to put up vacancies and hire more people to work for them. The job openings include card dealers, bartenders, security guards, casino managers, cashiers, cleaners, waiters/waitresses, chefs, shuttle drivers, sports bookers, etc.
Having more of these people added to their employment list becomes necessary for the casino to manage the new crowd effectively. High-standard casinos always ensure to have as many staff for these roles to take care of their customers. No casino owner wants to hear about a customer complaining about not getting attended to. So, local people who had no jobs before this time now get employment opportunities. When more people are employed, people can spend money on things. This, in turn, helps improve economic activities in the country.
3. Entertainment and Newer Challenges
Going on tours in other states gets players excited because of the fun and entertainment they will have. Casinos are always competing with each other because they want to present themselves as better than their rivals. So, they try to outdo each other by offering the best services to customers. Usually, this is in terms of many different games, rewards, bonuses, cashback percentages, promotions, etc. To take it a notch higher, some casinos own hotels that offer world-class services. In addition to this, they provide tour guides to help you find your way through the casino and through other interesting parts of their city. What is the benefit for the casino tourist? They get to have as much fun, entertainment, and newer challenges in as many different casinos as they can visit.
4. A Fun Way To Relax
Truly, the main purpose of going on casino tours is to visit many different casinos in different places. Yet, it also means that the player gets to experience new living in places they visit for the first time. So, casino tourism helps the tourist to reduce stress and anxiety. They get to see new things, visit interesting places in the city, learn a new fact, eat the local food and mix with the people of that city. Also, when taking a break from the casino, they can participate in outdoor activities like fishing, hiking, riding, or even sun tanning. Besides having fun and relaxing, this helps them get back their strength for gameplay later at the casino.
5. It Attracts More People To That City
Casino tourism has many benefits, as this article has already shown you. When a city becomes popular for its fun and entertainment, it attracts more people by default. People who heard about the city will want to come and see for themselves to get a firsthand experience. This means more money for the state government in taxes and other levies, more money for the casinos and other local businesses. Of course, this means more employment opportunities for the locals, which may help reduce crimes in the city.
What Are The Drawbacks of Casino Tourism?
1. Someone May Steal From Another Person
Usually, when you’re visiting a new country, one of the pieces of advice that you receive is to guard your personal belongings at all times. This is not far from the truth, as thieves are always on the lookout for tourists to rob. Movies like Ocean’s 11 show that stealing in casinos is highly possible, especially if a high-profile individual is patronizing the casino. Now, some visiting players may not take lightly someone stealing from them. You have seen it in the movies how it usually turns out: shouting, violence, gunshots… it’s not impossible in real life.
If the situation gets out of hand, it may be hard for the casino to manage. You may wonder, what then are the jobs of the security guards in the casino? Well, sometimes, the argument on who stole from whom may blow out of proportion so quick before the security can do anything. But, on the other hand, sometimes, the casino staff may manage the arguments and calm rising tempers successfully.
2. Loss of Reputation and Customers
In casinos, fights break out more often than not. However, if the casino security staff is slow in managing the situation, things could get worse. Thus, people may leave the casino and spread the word about the fight that happened. This may lead to other players, including gaming organizations to blacklist the casino because nobody wants to play at an insecure establishment. Sometimes, all it takes is one mismanaged situation to give a casino a bad reputation and make them lose customers. Thus, casino players who are touring cities may find out in the course of their research that the casino blacklisted and may not bother to play there.
3. Losing Money and Becoming Stranded
Another disadvantage of casino tourism is that you could lose money and become stranded in the country. This happens especially when you’re self-sponsoring yourself. As you know, gambling is a game of luck, and players take risks. Thus, a player may want to risk it by placing maximum bets only to lose everything in the process. As a result of this, they become stuck and unable to go back to their city. They cannot continue to pay for their hotel or even buy food. If they are lucky, they can call a friend or relation to sending them money. If they have none, they may have to take on odd jobs in the city.
4. You May Get Lost
Although this seems like what only happens in the movies, it is not impossible in real life. Now, visiting a city to tour its casinos does not mean a player should stick to only that during their stay. As this article mentioned earlier, a player may want to participate in other outdoor activities such as hiking. Well, it is not out of place for human beings to take unnecessary risks.
A player could impulsively decide to veer off marked parts in the spirit of adventure and go far into deeper lands. Some players may be lucky to have their wild adventure and return home; others may not be. Some may even follow strangers to places they’ve never been to without telling anyone. This may sound more imaginative than practical. However, a quick Google search on “missing people during tourism” will reveal that this article tells nothing but the truth. Tourists are fond of doing the most dangerous things like trying to go too close to a wild animal. So, when you’re going on your next casino tourism, make sure to abide by the rules and keep to places you know.
Conclusion
What is casino tourism? As you have just read, casino tourism means moving from one place to the other to enjoy the experience that different casinos present. Remember, when touring, always the benefits and drawbacks at the back of your mind.
