The city’s tourism market continued to expand during the first six months of the year, according to a report by the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism at Stockton University.
The report based its findings on indicators for lodging fees, casino parking revenue and non-casino spending. All three indicators were up, the report noted. The indicators are year-over-year percentage changes in the Atlantic County lodging fee per 100 rooms, the Atlantic City casino parking fee per 100 spaces and Atlantic County noncasino revenue per available room.
All three performance indicators showed healthy gains in the second quarter year over year, with the parking fee per 100 spaces up 10 percent, lodging fee per 100 rooms up 8 percent and “Atlantic County Noncasino RevPAR,” or revenue generated per room up 8 percent.
When the Taj Mahal closed in October 2016, it led to an increase in Atlantic County lodging fees, according to the report. After the 2014 and 2016 casino closures, Atlantic County reports an inventory of 19,321 rooms, supplying 590 thousand room nights in the month of June of 2017, according to the report. Moreover, following the closure of the Taj Mahal, significant gains were realized for the final nine months of the period. Altogether, the lodging market in Atlantic County experienced healthy year-over-year gains.
The report comes on the heels of the city’s seven remaining casinos reporting 20 percent growth in gross operating profits during the first six months of the year.