From yesterday%26#39;s Press of AC...an interesting study....
Atlantic City tops Vegas in hospitality, satisfaction service
By KEVIN POST
Published: Thursday, April 17, 2008
Atlantic City has won a stunning upset over longtime rival Las Vegas in a competition crucial to each.
Under the headline ';Atlantic City trumps Las Vegas for customer satisfaction and value,'; Market Metrix last week announced the results of its latest Hospitality Index survey.
In every category - from value for price to sophistication and pampering - New Jersey%26#39;s nearly 30-year-old gaming market outperformed its 77-year-old rival in Nevada.
';Compared to the Las Vegas Strip, Atlantic City guests are more satisfied with their hotel and casino experience,'; said the survey, published in Hotel %26amp; Motel Management magazine.
A convincing 78 percent of Atlantic City visitors were ';very likely to recommend'; the resort to others, but just 59 percent of Las Vegas visitors were as likely to do so, according to San Rafael, Calif.-based Market Metrix.
Jonathan Barsky, CEO of Market Metrix, had one word to describe that difference: ';Wow.';
';It was really surprising to us to see the performance ... to see Las Vegas, the king of gambling and entertainment, get beaten by Atlantic City,'; he said.
Market Metrix surveys 35,000 travelers per quarter, and about 10,000 of those were in the two gaming markets, Barsky said, a huge sample size.
This was the first time the company pulled out figures for a separate Casino Index of customer satisfaction, he said. ';Going forward, we%26#39;re developing a much more detailed and more frequent index for casinos, so we%26#39;ll be able to monitor these scores over time.';
Reaction to the survey depended on location.
';It%26#39;s a coup for Atlantic City,'; said Larry Mullin, president of the Borgata Hotel, Casino and Spa. ';The town should be proud.';
';This is great news,'; said Robert McDevitt, president of Local 54 of UNITE-HERE, the largest casino union.
';It%26#39;s gratifying to be recognized for providing a quality customer experience,'; Jeffrey Vasser, executive director of the Atlantic City Convention %26amp; Visitors Authority, said in a statement.
Erika Pope, senior manager with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, said its researchers weren%26#39;t familiar enough with Market Metrix and its survey methods to comment on the results.
';We produce our own annual visitor profile study, and in two decades, our results, such as they are, continue to indicate year after year that our visitors are overwhelmingly happy with their experience here and would, if asked, recommend Las Vegas to friends, neighbors, relatives and such,'; Pope said.
Mullin - whose company, Boyd Gaming, operates in both markets and uses Market Metrix research to optimize its operations - said the relative ease of traveling to Atlantic City is an advantage that might be showing up in the survey.
More importantly, he said, new development is transforming the city and the experience for visitors.
';It%26#39;s part of a story that will get much clearer as we develop our second hotel, the Water Club, and as MGM Mirage and others come into this market,'; Mullin said. ';As the town matures, I think the future looks bright.';
McDevitt, who started out as a casino waiter and bartender, said he has always been resentful of people saying, ';It%26#39;s so much better somewhere else.';
The survey made him ';really happy.';
Barsky said the independent survey is the largest of its kind ';as far as we know.';
AC/Vegas Customer Survey Comparison
Hmmm...Plastic cups of beer (A/C) vs. bottles of Corona (Vegas). That%26#39;s a tough one.
The real question is how many of the AC customers have also been to Vegas. Having been in both markets, it%26#39;s not even close. I live 1.5 hours (driving) away from AC and have been to Vegas 7 times in the last 3 years. Only once to AC.
AC/Vegas Customer Survey Comparison
As a visitor from Europe who has been to both...I liked Atlantic City more than I expected to,,,and I have to say the best buffet I ever had was in the Borgata.
However having been there, I wouldn%26#39;t bother again, and am just about to leave for my 9th visit to Vegas.
Travel times:
London-NY-AC about 10 hours
London-NY-LV about 19 hours
Nuff said
This is not surprising to me. I would think AC has to try much harder than Vegas to attract customers and keep them coming back.
I have to agree with everyone here. I myself live about an hour from A/C. I have been to Vegas more in the last 5 years then A/C. In my opinion it is two different worlds.. remember the casinos (most of them) are located on a boardwald with the Atlantic Ocean right there which is so cool and Vegas will never have that. That being said Vegas is still got em beat hands down. You should def experience gambling by the ocean in New Jersey ..maybe once but then it back to Vegas Baby!
Good Luck!
I live within a few hour%26#39;s drive to AC %26amp; the 1st time I was there was after already going to Vegas, but it is really very different. We had a good time, but it just doesn%26#39;t compare with the ';Wow'; factor of Vegas. There%26#39;s no way I could stay in AC for more than 3 nights %26amp; I always want to stay in Vegas for more than 5 nights!
Been going to AC since 1977, 8 to 10 times a year. During that period we have visited Vegas maybe 30 times. As mentioned earlier, most people make a day trip or an overnighter to AC. There is nothing to keep you there but gambling. Fine meals can be had and comps for the average player are probably better in AC. But very few people (that I know) make AC a vacation destination.
The Borgata is our AC destination and it compares favorably to the top Vegas casino hotels. But the rest of the AC properties don%26#39;t thrill us. Nobody does it all like Vegas. But they better watch their rear, because 3 Card Poker odds are much better in AC. And I don%26#39;t know of any AC casino that uses the 6/5 BJ rules, though many do hit soft 17.
Vegas still wins hands down for the overall experience in my book.
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