Atlantic City Thrives During Weekend Blizzard

Typically, severe weather is bad news for the entertainment industry, including casinos. But when a blizzard brought the northeastern United States to a grinding halt Sunday, it turned out relatively well for the otherwise struggling Atlantic City resorts.

With the blizzard rolling into town, many casino patrons extended their stays rather than attempt to leave in the middle of the storm. Meanwhile, those with reservations for Sunday evening tried to check into their hotel rooms early to beat the storm. The result was that while some visitors couldn’t get to Atlantic City due to the weather, others filled most of their rooms anyway as a way to ride out the storm.

“Obviously, there was some impact from the storm, but because the storm started late in Philadelphia, a lot of our Philadelphia guests were able to get down early,” said Mary Moyer, PR and advertising manager at the Tropicana Casino, according to a report at pressofAtlanticCity.com. “Our New York guests got caught up in the weather, though. The room cancellations exceeded extensions, but our occupancy is only a bit off.”

Across the city, casinos kept as many restaurants and lounges open as possible throughout the storm, creating a festive mood for patrons who were snowed in with nowhere else to go. While casinos were operating with only partial staff, those who could make it into work were given complimentary rooms so that they could stay comfortable until it was safe to travel home. At two casinos, medical personnel were also given a place to stay.

The storm actually occurred at a time that should cause few disruptions for the Atlantic City casinos. According to the Borgata’s Senior Vice President of Operations Joe Lupo, a storm just a few days later could have severely impacted New Year’s festivities.

“As long as it warms up and we can receive our shipments and deliveries from vendors for New Year’s, this shouldn’t be a big problem,” Lupo told pressofAtlanticCity.com. “If this snow came Wednesday or Thursday, this could have been much more detrimental.”

The storm set records in Atlantic City, dumping 20.1 inches (51 cm) at the Atlantic City International Airport, an all-time high in the city for a single storm.