Gambling and Tourism

The gambling industry holds out the promise of tourism -- and an influx of tourist dollars -- wherever it attempts to expand. No new gambling locale, however, has come close to imitating the Las Vegas model, in which an estimated 85 percent of profits come from out-of-state gamblers. Most gambling enterprises make their profits from the pockets of the local citizenry, thus merely transferring wealth from the community to large casino companies, many of which are located out of state.

— 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. (Ricardo C. Gazel, William N. Thompson and J. Terrence Brunner, "Casino Gamblers in Illinois: Who Are They?" 1996, p.7.)

— 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. (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.)

— A survey of gamblers inside a Kansas City, Missouri, casino found that 88 percent lived within 45 minutes of the casino. (Rick Aim, "Taking a Chance on the Boats," Kansas City Star Magazine, June 30, 1996, p.9.) 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. (Anne Lamoy, "Kansans Leave Cash at Casinos," Kansas City Star, September 23, 1995, p. C1.)

— Eighty percent of Wisconsin casino revenues come from Wisconsin residents, according to a study released in 1995. (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.)

— 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. (Arthur G. Cosby, "The Proximity Factor: Results from the 1995 United States Survey of Gaming and Gambling," Grogan Casino Report, May 1995, p.40.)

— At the short-lived New Orleans land-based casino, local residents made up 60 percent of the clientele. (Amy Jinker-Loyd, "Gambling Economic Development," American City & County, July 1996, p.57.)

— 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. (Ray Parker, "Gambling Is Professor’s Work," Las Vegas Review-Journal, February 19, 1997, p. 12A.)

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