By Andrew Schmertz
Correspondent
On a Friday afternoon, the faces along the boardwalk are, well, still of the older variety. But a report from Stockton University says the future of Atlantic City should include millennials — the 20-something demographic with a reputation of being hard to please. The report says they want easy, inexpensive entertainment, but not necessarily activities that involve gambling.
“Gambling is lower on their priority list when they’re choosing a destination to visit for a night out or overnight stay. They’re more into partying, the nightclubs, the restaurants, the hanging out with their friends than they are gambling,” said Stockton University Assistant Professor Jane Bokunewicz.
Bokunewicz headed up the study, which was partially funded by the casino industry.
It found that 84 percent of millennials surveyed viewed Atlantic City favorably and that 91 percent of those who visited AC liked their stay. You do need to be 21 to gamble but the city wants to appeal to a broader base.
Atlantic City will take any visitor of any age. The tourism economy has been hit here year after year. But the question is how do you attract the millennials to come here and spend money?
Larry Sieg is with the state’s Casino Reinvestment Development Authority and he’s seeing a shift in how casinos are marketing to younger people.
“I think that the push is really on for non-gaming amenities. Gaming’s always going to be part of our city, it’s the fabric of the city. But it’s an amenity now to the trip. It’s not the driving motivator, especially for the millennials to travel,” Sieg said.
Most agree there are three things millennials like — bars, music and food.
Several we caught up with came to town to see bands that are playing this weekend.
“Yesterday I came down for the Zac Brown Band concert. Tons of people get a lot more events come down here,” said Joel Sychulsky of Philadelphia.
“It needs some more bars, it needs some more flashy, some good restaurant choices, all within walking distance. When you are at the beach you don’t have to hop in a car,” said Jill Campbell of Harrisburgh, Pa.
But millennials are also gamers and the study’s author says a city of games should be able to pivot to the type they want to play.
“They’re looking for games of skill and games that they can play socially with their friends,” Bokunewicz.
Millennials are tough to market to. A study by the Harris Group this year found they spend less on individual purchases like cars than people 10 years older, but more on what are considered “experiences” such as travel and social activities.
Casino executives say millennials don’t spend much money on the casino floor, but they want them in their hotels nonetheless.
“Most of our gaming dollars are still won from boomers, but the millennial spend is very important to us. We talk about it as a company through all of our properties quite often. Specifically for Atlantic City because we do have so much to offer here,” said Tropicana Atlantic City General Manager Steve Callender.
Atlantic City has lost 20 percent of casino jobs in the past year, and some 13,000 jobs altogether have disappeared. Convincing a future generation of millennials that AC is the future of entertainment is a gamble the industry says it has to make.