Florida lawmakers are poised to make some dramatic changes to the state’s gambling landscape.
Legislators in the House and Senate are weighing options for regulating control over the existing gambling outlets (lottery, racetracks, etc.) and opening the Sunshine State to commercial/destination casinos. Currently, there are two major gaming operations, in Tampa and Fort Lauderdale, both controlled by the Seminole Indian tribe.
The Senate is proposing the establishment of two destinations casinos in Miami-Dade and neighboring Broward County; the Florida House, meanwhile, would leave that decision up to the governor. The Senate proposal has attracted a tremendous amount of buzz among lawmakers, tourism leaders and hospitality analysts and fueled a hotly contested debate in a gubernatorial election year.
At the center of the debate: Can Florida add casino gaming without doing damage to its reputation as a family-friendly destination?
While analysts agree that more casinos are a logical progression in Florida, the real questions are how to channel casino gambling in the state, and when is the timing right?
“It’s a policy question. We know people want to gamble. People are adults, and we need to ask how do we channel this to benefit the state,” said Dave Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Opponents fear allowing the addition of the new destination casinos will take away from the state’s family-friendly tourism brand, especially the Orlando area supported by Disney, Universal and SeaWorld theme parks and other family attractions.
But analysts disagree, pointing to the co-existence of the theme parks and Indian casinos in Southern California as a mutually beneficial relationship for state tourism.
“The theme parks [in California] have not suffered, and casinos have not tarnished the state’s reputation,” said Peter Ricci, director of the Hospitality Management program at Florida Atlantic University. “Florida has a great reputation in the world marketplace with the beaches, restaurants, hotels and weather. Gaming is an added element.”
He added that although he agrees a destination casino in the Central Florida/theme parks area is not a good idea, “I doubt a family coming to Universal or Disney World is going to change plans because there is a destination casino to the south. That argument doesn’t hold water.”
Supporters say additional competition would be healthy in a market that already includes the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Fort Lauderdale. The Seminole Tribe of Florida currently has a 20-year contract with the state that gives them the exclusive rights to operate table card games like blackjack at its casinos; that contract expires next year.
“South Florida gaming would enhance and offer competition to the existing tribe, which has a monopoly in the region. There is not enough competition to do a great job now,” Ricci said.
Longtime travel agent Lisa Givas, president of Academy Travel, which specializes in Disney vacations, says she doesn’t anticipate the proposed changes affecting travelers’ preferences. She says her clients, who book family-friendly vacations to Disney resorts in Orlando, would not book an additional trip to the casinos three hours away. She agrees that both Central and South Florida have well-defined and differing attraction appeal for tourists.
Ricci suggests that the South Florida area will do well to attract older visitors, both domestic and international, who enjoy the nightlife, dining and outdoor amenities. Schwartz adds younger, first-time visitors might opt for South Florida for the casinos and visit Central Florida for the theme parks.
There are also direct economic impacts that could come from destination casinos. New destination hotels would create jobs for thousands of people in the service and hospitality industries. The destination casinos would also draw additional tourists, possibly as many as 5 million to 10 million per year, Ricci estimated.
Those higher tourism numbers would mean more hotel taxes, depositing additional revenue into the state’s coffers, and increased demand for new hotels. According to 2013 data from Smith Travel Research, Miami and Orlando rank in the top 25 highest occupancy rates in the country, despite a lack of new hotel rooms.
“Miami has a 78% occupancy rate and selling 8 out of 10 rooms every night. That’s quite an achievement. Orlando has a healthy growth as well (71% percent occupancy rate), well above the national average of 50%,” said Jan Freitag, senior vice president at STR.
“In general, when you have destination casinos being built or contemplated, there are smaller ones for overflow or to set differing price points,” Freitag adds, that will continue to attract more domestic and international travelers.
“In the long run, when appropriate regulations are incorporated, destination casinos are likely to encourage growth to the tourism industry,” says Myongjee “Michelle” Yoo, assistant professor at the Chapin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management at Florida International University in an email interview. “There should be a synergy effect to other businesses in the tourism industry (hotel, restaurants, convention, entertainment, transportation, etc.), and overall service standards will improve in Florida.”
Correction: The original version of this report contained an incorrectly attributed quote about the findings of a study done by the Spectrum Gaming Group. The attribution should have been credited to Bill Lupfer of the Florida Attractions Association, not Spectrum.