For Immediate Release

Contact:         Maryjane Briant
                        News and Media Relations Director
                        Galloway, N.J. 08205
                        Maryjane.Briant@stockton.edu
                        (609) 652-4593
                        stockton.edu/media

Galloway, NJ - Atlantic City Tourism Performance Indicators (AC-TPI) released by the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism (LIGHT) today showed a continuing pattern of sustained, positive growth for the tourism industry in the first quarter of this year.

The AC-TPI uses year-over-year percentage changes in the monthly figures of three key performance measures:  the Atlantic County Lodging Fee per 100 rooms, the Atlantic City Casino Parking Fee per 100 spaces, and the Atlantic City non-casino revenue per available room (RevPAR), as an effective proxy for the performance of the tourism economy in Atlantic City.

“The Atlantic County Lodging Fee on a per-room basis has increased in 11 of 12 months, including solid gains of between 6 percent and 12 percent over the past six months,” said Brian Tyrrell, professor of Hospitality and Tourism Management Studies at Stockton University. “Examining the 12-month trailing total, the county lodging fee on a per-room basis is now higher than the historic average, having previously peaked in 2007, a year after the introduction of Pennsylvania gaming.”

Tyrrell added that “the per-space performance of the Atlantic City Casino Parking Fee on a space- available basis has seen double-digit percentage gains for six straight months following the closure of the Taj Mahal.” 

The casino parking fee saw consistent, double-digit growth month-over-month in the first quarter, outpacing the county lodging fee and non-casino RevPAR for that period. Non-casino RevPAR also saw double-digit gains in the first quarter. However, 13 percent and 15 percent gains in January and March respectively were tempered by a 10 percent decline in February.

Rummy Pandit, executive director of the LIGHT, noted: “The double-digit increases in both the casino-only parking fee and the non-casino-only RevPAR are a sign of the city’s resilience. Rather than declining in the wake of the closure of the Taj Mahal, both non-casino and casino hotels in Atlantic City showed growth.”

Non-casino RevPAR continued a long-term trend of outperforming the county lodging and casino parking fees for the 12 months ended March 2017. Non-casino RevPAR showed an 8 percent increase over the prior 12 months, while the county lodging fee grew by 6 percent and the casino parking fee grew by 4 percent in the same period.

Click for the complete AC-TPI Q1 2017 report or visit: www.stockton.edu/light.

Contact Brian Tyrrell (brian.tyrrell@stockton.edu) or Rummy Pandit (rummy.pandit@stockton.edu) if you have any questions or require additional assistance.

The Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming Hospitality & Tourism (LIGHT) at Stockton University provides a forum for public policy discussions regarding the gaming, hospitality and tourism industries in New Jersey.

LIGHT is located at the Stockton-Rothenberg Building, 3430 Atlantic Ave., Atlantic City, N.J. 08401.

Phone: 609-626-3893; email: LIGHT@stockton.edu; online: www.stockton.edu/light