Youngstown Daily Legal News

Tour bus visits can be an important revenue source for new casino, Scioto Downs

RICK ADAMCZAK
Special to the Legal News
Published: September 20, 2012

When the Hollywood Casino Columbus opens early next month the $400 million gaming hall will host thousands of out-of-town visitors each month, many of whom will arrive on chartered buses.

While it varies depending on the casino location, studies show that most casinos get anywhere from 15 percent to 30 percent of their revenue from visitors who live beyond 50 miles of the casino, so out-of-towners are important to a casino’s success.

If the early success of charter bus business to Scioto Downs casino, which opened June 1, is any indication, the Hollywood Casino Columbus should do well in attracting bus groups.

Tiffani Hedler, office manager for Candle Coach in Canton, says her company’s trips to Scioto Downs have been popular so far.

“They have a good reputation with our customers. People seem to like it because it’s clean and there’s lots of open space,” she said.

The company has been running about one bus tour per month to Scioto Downs.

“Our first trip was one bus, but for this month we’re taking two busloads and there’s already quite a few booked for October,” said Hedler.

She said Candle Coach plans to run trips to Hollywood Casino Columbus once that facility opens.

“We’ll be running one once a month until we find out how it turns out. If the turnout is good we’ll run more often,” said Hedler.

Cleveland-based Great Day Tours has a weekly trip to Scioto Downs on Tuesdays and plans to offer trips to Hollywood Casino Columbus when it opens.

“(Tuesday) we had a full bus to Scioto Downs. We’ve had as many as two buses,” said Allen Kinney, president and chief executive officer of Great Day Tours.

But there are several factors that go into determining whether tour buses will continue making trips to a casino. Those factors include the facility’s atmosphere, but perhaps most important is the “slot play,” free money to gamble at the casino.

A patron will get, for example, $25 worth of credits from the casino to gamble with as part of their bus trip package.

When new casinos open they sometimes don’t offer the slot play because the newness of the casino alone will draw in customers, but eventually most will offer the incentive.

There’s been no indication so far whether Hollywood Casino Columbus will offer slot play when it opens but the Horseshoe Casino in Cleveland, which opened in May, still doesn’t, said Kinney.

“One of the things we’re seeing is that people go to a new casino when it opens to see what it’s like but then they go back to the casinos with the biggest (free slot play),” he said.

Detroit casinos typically are offering $30 per person in slot play to bus groups while some in western New York are offering $40.

Ohio currently has three casinos operating.

“Right now none of the Ohio casinos are giving what the out-of-state ones are,” said Kinney, whose company offers trips to 15 casinos.

Scioto Downs is offering patrons $25 in free slot play, he added.

With another casino planning to open next year in Cincinnati and at least two other horse racing tracks expected to eventually offer gambling, the competition for bettors will only grow. And that’s not even mentioning relatively new casinos like those in Pennsylvania.

Kinney said it would be helpful to his industry if the casinos themselves would help promote their businesses.

“Out-of-town casinos, especially when they first open, have supported our marketing of them. They’ve paid for advertising. We’ve not seen that same kind of support from Ohio casinos,” said Kinney.

The state of Ohio also has not provided any marketing assistance, he said.

“One of the things lacking in Ohio seems to be a reluctance to market the state, its tourism,” said Kinney.

[Back]