While casinos must focus on safety to lure back customers, consultants said the resort industry must create a new kind of fun, including greater use of outdoor spaces, and must do the same for conventions whose events will be a combination of in-person and remote going forward.
During a discussion at ICE North America’s digital conference on drawing customers back to properties amid COVID-19, Cynthia Kiser Murphey, the former president of New York-New York in Las Vegas, said casinos must not only build personalized experiences by asking customers want they want but also provide a small footprint that makes customers feel safe to come.
“Those properties that open first need to do a really good job and show the way,” Kiser Murphey said. “They have a responsibility to do this right, but at the same time get people talking and have a reason for posting pictures of their experience on social media and creating a buzz.”
Kiser Murphey said casinos need to take a second look at how they use outdoor spaces, including golf courses. There can be small footprints of outdoor entertainment extending from patios of restaurants or pools, even BBQs in a farmers-market-style in booths.
“They need to explore those kinds of things to help people walk before they run and come in very slowly,” Kiser Murphey said.
Dr. Kate Spilde, professor of hospitality and tourism management at San Diego State University, said incorporating outdoor areas would work well for tribal casinos, but it has to be more than just safety.
“Spaces can be repurposed at this time to provide that fresh air, but repurposed to have a different kind of fun,” Spilde said. “We want to make sure people are having fun.”
Spilde agreed with Kiser Murphey of the need to create “smaller footprint experiences” with couples, small groups and families who are traveling together.
“I think reaching out and catering to them as a unit rather than believing everybody is coming individually to properties (is important). Find ways to create special experiences for them as well within our larger properties,” Spilde said.
That was echoed by Lana Kotur, vice president of customer success for VizExplorer, a casino software and consulting firm, who said operators will market to their core customers, since people won’t be flying as much as before during the initial reopenings.
“Customers and players are still coming for an experience,” Kotur said. “While there’s pent-up demand, there’s a certain level of concern about health — keeping it clean and being that safe place to be. But you still want to be a form of entertainment for them.”
That level of fun and entertainment applies to the convention business as well, given that resorts are likely to struggle to fill weekday rooms as fewer people travel to Las Vegas.
Kiser Murphey said there’s a push in the meeting and convention business to create a hybrid meeting in which not everyone gathers in one locale. Some would access the event remotely. This is already being planned for conventions in late 2020 and early 2021, she said.
“As we come back, the convention industry will have reduced room capacity of one-third to one-half in the initial weeks and months, so you have to modify delivery,” Kiser Murphey said. “It’s important for us in the hospitality industry to come up with creative ways to make those experiences rich and engaging for those who initially dial in and think about how we create loyalty at a future time when people feel comfortable to travel.”
