Reality creates perception and perception creates reality: Telling the Atlantic City story

By Sarah Grady, M. A., Assistant Director, Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming Hospitality & Tourism

When selecting a travel destination, visitors’ perception of a location, its safety, cleanliness and potential to meet their personal travel preferences is an important part of the equation. Knowing this, travel destinations spend millions of dollars on campaigns to shape public perceptions and encourage visitation especially by target audience groups. We’ve all seen the ads, the slogans – some like “Virginia is for Lovers,” and “What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas” have become iconic. Here are 15 CNN Travel says were the best of 2022.

What a destination officially says about itself and includes in destination marketing messaging is only part of what shapes public perception. Perceptions are also swayed by what others say about a destination. Whether it's press coverage, visitor reviews, influencer posts or the shared experience of colleagues, friends and family – many stories, many channels of information, contribute to an overall impression of a travel destination.

There have been times in Atlantic City’s history, when the stories being told about the resort were far from positive. It’s hard to say that public perception of Atlantic City hasn’t taken a hit from negative press and lackluster reviews over the years. However, with recent capital investment in the city -- including the development of new businesses and amenities, and the increasing prominence of community-led arts, culture and heritage organizations -- there are new stories to tell about the resort and even more potential for creating positive perceptions.

Atlantic City as it turns out is actually full of storytellers. The Atlantic City Arts Foundation, Chicken Bone Beach Historical Foundation, Inc., The African American Heritage Museum of Southern New Jersey, and community-led initiatives like Stories of Atlantic City, a “restorative narrative collaborative project,” are just a few of the organizations telling perception-shaping stories of Atlantic City. Theses narratives reveal the hidden depths of a city that is far more complex and vibrant than the newspaper headlines might have readers believe.

Amid these positive narratives, of course, are also the less, "photo ready," realities experienced directly by city residents and indirectly by city visitors. These realities also play a role in shaping public perception as they become the topic of news stories, visitor reviews and shared travel experiences. The feedback loop between reality and perception, reality creates perception and perception creates reality, makes it all the more critical that the city address both the reality of its residents and the perceptions of the general public in charting a path forward for the resort.

The recently implemented CitiStat system with its bi-weekly meetings has made great progress in addressing city realities by documenting resident complaints and holding the city accountable for their resolution. The transparency of this process is at once cringeworthy and refreshing. Even if the story told by resident reports and coverage of public meetings is less than flattering, it is authentic and supports the narrative of a city and resort destination that is making a concerted effort to better residents’ quality of life and with it the visitor experience.

If Atlantic City can successfully harness the power of the perception/reality feedback loop to not only improve public perception of the city but also the real, lived experience of residents and guests, it will be well on its way to realizing its full potential as a world-class resort destination.