Many a cheap travel deal can be found to Atlantic City, including cheap airplane tickets, discount hotel rooms, and cheap vacation packages. Hurricane Sandy flooded Atlantic City homes and seriously impacted its tourism though ironically hardly touched its boardwalk, casinos, and attractions.
Although Atlantic City casinos had to close down on October 28th when Hurricane Sandy hit, the infrastructure of Atlantic Citys tourist district was left largely untouched because the area was protected by the dunes. Within a week the casinos were able to reopen.
Unfortunately public perception of the impact of Sandy was quite different. National TV footage showed the citys famous boardwalk engulfed in waves during the hurricane. After the storm there was extensive TV coverage of a 50 foot section of the boardwalk that lay in splinters. Media coverage did not reveal that the portion of the boardwalk damaged was in a residential neighborhood a half mile away from the closest casino and had already been in disrepair before the storm.
Forty-one percent of Americans were under the opinion that Atlantic Citys beloved boardwalk had been destroyed according to a survey taken last November. What followed was a 28 percent fall in gaming revenue, the biggest monthly drop in 34 years.
Reservations for conventions, conferences, and trade shows fell sharply after the hurricane. Travel websites have seen up to a 50 percent decline in Memorial Day Atlantic Citys hotel searches and a 45 percent fewer travel searches for the summer (between May 27th and September 2nd).
To convince potential tourists that Atlantic City is ready to receive them, the Atlantic City Alliance, a gaming industry backed organization, is spending $20 million to relaunch last years Do AC advertising campaign.
New Atlantic City attractions this summer include:
Resorts Casino Hotels new $35 million Margaritaville complex, scheduled to open on May 24th, is expected to be a big tourist draw. It will feature the towns first beach restaurant.
The Tropicana is coming out with new dining options that will be introduced later this summer, including Philly cheesesteak restaurant Tony Lukes, gourmet burger bar Broadway Burger Bar & Grill, and a Chickies and Petes sports bar.
Revel, a resort casino and hotel, will open a multi-floor HQ Beach Club prior to Memorial Day which will feature an adult-only playground with bars, pools, cabanas, and a DJ and dance floor.
Resorts are counting on their multimillion dollar gambles on new dining and entertainment amenities to bring back tourists in droves, not only to their individual properties but to Atlantic City as a whole.
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