usa: east coast trio
FEATURE 17
Atlantic City is selling well for Virgin Holidays, says Andrea Noble, Product Development Manager for the USA & Canada.
“Bookings are up this year. Twinning Atlantic City with Philadelphia can work well. Atlantic City offers holidaymakers the chance to experience glittering casinos, stylish shopping, the original American boardwalk and even surfi ng or kayaking. “Aside from Philadelphia, you can reach Atlantic City by fl ying into Newark and travelling down the coast by car, booking onto one of the buses that departs from Newark Penn Station (limited service) or the Port Authority Bus terminal in New York City. Or you can travel through New Jersey by train on The Atlantic City Rail Line, a journey time of around 90 minutes.”
WHAT’S NEW
Attractions: Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville Café, LandShark Bar and Grill and Five O’Clock Somewhere Bar has opened on the Boardwalk inside the Resorts Hotel Casino (
resortsac.com). Hotels: The recently-rebranded Revel Casino
imitation of Las Vegas, but I think that’s unfair. With its famous boardwalk and miles of nearby sandy beaches, a stay in Atlantic city offers a city and beach combination – certainly not something Las Vegas can offer,” said Keith Chuter, Sales Manager at British Airways. The city has signifi cantly expanded its product
offering and now boasts a line up of world-class hotels (including 12 resort casinos), fabulous shopping of both the designer and premium outlet type, and restaurants run by celebrity chefs. There are hundreds of shops on the Boardwalk,
while The Pier Shops at Caesars on the Boardwalk offers three storeys worth of designer shopping overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Most Brits will likely head for the many bargains
on offer at the Tangier Outlets The Walk, which has over 100 factory stores including names such as Tommy Hilfi ger, Converse and Banana Republic. Atlantic City’s culinary scene is growing fast and the city offers an eclectic mix of gourmet restaurants fronted by internationally acclaimed chefs. The gaming properties offer choices that cover most ethnic backgrounds: Mexican, American, Italian, Vietnamese, Asian, Indian, Southern or Cuban, Mediterranean and more can be found throughout the city. But a highlight of eating out in Atlantic City is the several small family-owned eateries. For example, The Knife & Fork restaurant transports diners back to the Roaring Twenties and those
“When in Philadelphia be sure to visit the Museum of Art and climb the 72 steps to the entrance, known from the film
Rocky as the ‘Rocky Steps’. CLAIRE CAMPBELL, MARKETING EXECUTIVE FUNWAY HOLIDAYS
Prohibition days when rebellious club members defi ed the laws of an alcohol-free society and continued to openly serve liquor at the bar. The club survived without being raided for some
Opposite page: Distrito Bar: a taste of Mexico in Philadelphia; Ripley’s Believe it or Not, one of many family attractions in Atlantic City; This page: Atlantic City beach scene; History abounds at Valley Forge
time, perhaps due to the infl uence of the original Enoch “Nucky” Johnson, the reigning ‘political boss’, who was a Knife & Fork regular. And for a literal taste of the city’s growing restaurant scene, suggest clients be in Atlantic City for the annual Atlantic City Restaurant Week. It’s too late for 2014 – the sixth running of the event took place in March – but catch next year when participating restaurants in and around Atlantic City will again offer cut-price three-course lunches and dinners. Family attractions include the Steel Pier, which is currently in the middle of a three-phase, $102-million renovation project. Several new rides were added last summer – such as bumper cars, a ferris wheel, wet boats and more – and next up is a new museum, restaurants and nightclubs. There’s also a Ripley’s Believe it or Not, helicopter rides for a bird’s eye view of the Atlantic City shoreline and the Ocean Life Centre in Gardner’s Basin, featuring sharks, rays and other marine life. There are also dolphin-watching cruises.
www.sellinglonghaul.com
Hotel (
revelresorts.com) has added new amenities such as the HQ Beach Club and a 24-hour casual café. The hotel also now allows dogs up to 30 lbs to stay in its hotel for an extra $50 room fee. Tropicana Casino Resort (
tropicana.net) has opened
new restaurants, including Chickie’s and Pete’s Crab house and Sports Bar, Casa Taco and Tequila Bar. Operators: Travel 2 (
travel2.com) has added
Atlantic City to its 2014 US brochure and features four hotels: Bally’s Hotel & Casino, Harrahs Resort & Casino, Caesar’s Hotel & Casino & the Showboat Hotel & Casino. Virgin Holidays features fi ve hotels in the destination; Revel, Showboat Atlantic City, Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City, Bally’s Atlantic City and Caesars Atlantic City, its top-seller. Training: The Travel 2 Training Academy,
Atlantic City & Philadelphia module, which launched last summer, has been completed by 720 agents, with an average pass rate of 92%. The region has hosted a number of travel agents and tour operators including operator product managers in 2013; more are planned for this year.
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