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Casinos a Draw for Convention Business

NEW YORK – As reported by the Cincinnati Business-Courier: "Meeting planners love to roll the dice when it comes to casinos and gaming venues.

"With the proliferation of gaming venues, the presence of a casino can help, or hurt, an area land a convention or meeting.

"Casinos have become as much a meeting amenity as golf courses, spas or ski resorts. People come to expect them, or at least some people do.

"…The role casinos play in the Niagara Falls region continues to grow.

"Casino Niagara is widely credited with playing a major role in the growth of the Niagara Falls, Ont., market. Since its opened in late 1996, Casino Niagara averages 10 million annual visitors.

"…On the other side of the falls is the Seneca Niagara Casino, which opened last New Year's Eve. It has become a prominent part of the area's selling package for meeting planners.

"…The Seneca Niagara Casino has put together meeting packages that the private sector has taken advantage of in recent months.

"…`We are much more focused on it,' said Lisa Arnet, president of the We Care Group, a Buffalo, N.Y., transportation company.

"We Care runs daily shuttles between major downtown hotels and the Seneca Niagara Casino. It also provides limousine service to the casinos in both Niagara Falls.

"The shuttle handles about 1,500 passengers a month, but that bumps upward when a major convention is in town, Arnet said.

"…Casinos have become part of the entertainment package for visitors, much in the same way the Buffalo Sabres, Buffalo Bills and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery already are.

"…Robert Russell, president of the Casino Management Association, agrees that the presence of gaming venues does make a difference with meeting planners and conventioneers…"

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