Looking Ahead to a Bright Future for Atlantic City "The new addition of the Harrah’s Atlantic City Waterfront Conference Center was instrumental in attracting the
2016 MPI World Education Congress, which will bring an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 meeting professionals into Atlantic City. While the convention will take place at Harrah's, peripheral events and overflow room bookings will be hosted by Borgata and Golden Nugget," noted Larry Huttinger, director of D. Lawrence Planners and Destination AC in Atlantic City, NJ.
"What's more, it's exciting that so many planners will have the opportunity to revisit Atlantic City and see it in a new way that will help to change some of the misperceptions about the city... after the much publicized casino closings," Huttinger added.
In addition to new developments on the meetings front at properties like Harrah's and Resorts, Atlantic City also is
increasing its offerings on the tourism front. Among the biggest new additions, Huttinger cited, are: The Playground, a new music, retail and dining venue on the site of the former Pier Shops at Caesars; a new climate controlled Observation Wheel coming to Steel Pier; a proposed waterpark at the site of the former Atlantic Club; the addition of Bass Pro Shop at Tanger Outlets - The Walk; as well as Tropicana's new offerings, such as the AtlantiCare fitness center and boardwalk light show coupled with the shops, restaurants, IMAX theater and other offerings at The Quarter at Tropicana.
what’sNEW
Atlantic City has a combined inventory of 15,630 overnight rooms, which includes eight major casino hotels and multiple non-gaming hotels. The four largest are the Borgata and Water Club at 2,800 rooms, Harrah’s Atlantic City at 2,587 rooms, Tropicana at 2,129 rooms, and the Trump Taj Mahal at 2,032 rooms. Each of the hotels and casino properties offer meeting and banquet space, as well.
Caesars Entertainment completed con- struction on the $250 million Harrah’s Atlantic City Waterfront Conference Center, and now boasts the largest convention center-hotel complex from Baltimore to Boston with its two 50,000- square foot ballrooms. The ballrooms can be divided into as many as 29 indi- vidual sections and each offers state-of- the-art technology and advanced meet- ings space for up to 5,000 attendees. In addition, Harrah’s Atlantic City offers over 2,500 hotel rooms that are directly accessible from the new meeting space, making it a perfect year-round destina- tion where attendees can eat, sleep and meet all in one location. The grand opening took place in September 2015.
Tropicana has finalized a $50 million ren- ovation that included boardwalk façade enhancements, hotel room upgrades and expansion throughout the property.
64 January February 2016
It also opened the multi-million-dollar AtlantiCare LifeCenter, which features the most advanced gym facility in Atlantic City and offers state of the art equipment throughout. A laser light show on the boardwalk has been added to the resort's many offerings, as well.
Resorts Casino Hotel recently cut the ribbon on their new $5 million confer- ence center. The space, with 15,000- square feet spread over 12 rooms, is a perfect addition to Atlantic City's corpo- rate meetings market and has further enhanced the destination's attractive- ness to this marketplace.
Atlantic City’s newest outdoor entertain- ment space is Borgata Festival Park, a unique outdoor venue that features a 4,000-person capacity concert facility adjacent to the hotel casino. Festival Park includes a main stage, a bar, ping- pong tables and VIP cabana-style seat- ing near the stage. Other amenities include beer trucks, fire pits and tables.
At the site of the former Atlantic Club Casino, plans have been approved for its conversion into a family-focused entertainment complex with an 81,000- square foot waterpark and about 800 hotel rooms by Endeavor.
The Casino Reinvestment Development Authority also has approved a plan allowing Golden Nugget Atlantic City to
turn an unused restaurant into two 2,400-square foot villas with views of the marina district. The plan for each villa includes a bedroom, living room, enter- tainment room, dining area and bar space.
The Playground, on the former site of The Pier Shops at Caesars, is the newest addition to Atlantic City. The Playground rests over the ocean and is a 464,000-square foot self-contained entertainment venue consisting of high- end retail, eight live entertainment clubs and restaurants, a bowling alley, swim- ming pool and the Varsity Club, which is a sports bar. Inside, along the corridor of T Street are a plethora of unique bars that consist of live entertainment and food and beverage with menus created by Garces Group.
The top floor of The Playground is home to One Atlantic, a unique event and reception space that juts out over the ocean. Whether planning a dynamic cor- porate function, a gala fundraiser or a milestone social event, One Atlantic boasts over 10,000-square feet of integrated event space with views of the beach, boardwalk and Atlantic City skyline through floor-to-ceiling windows and an open-air terrace.
The flexible space provides configura- tions for groups of 10 to 1,200 for cock- tails, or five to 500 for seated meal func-
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84