Vol. 4, No. 1, January 2007
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Gary Musich, Vice President, Casino Development, Atlantic City Convention and Visitors Authority
A 14-year veteran of the Atlantic City casino sales and marketing wars, former Bally’s executive Gary Musich was among the first executives in the Atlantic City casino industry to preach the gospel of non-gaming attractions as the key to the market's future growth. He now has a chance to put that preaching into practice as the vice president of convention development with the Atlantic City Convention and Visitors Authority (ACCVA). Hired in September 2005, the Galloway Township resident has been charged with expanding the reach of the ACCVA, overseeing sales, marketing, advertising and convention services. Musich also is responsible for the planning and execution of the ACCVA's participation in convention industry trade shows and other events. Casino Connection associate editor Beth Joseph recently had an opportunity to sit down with Musich at his Boardwalk Hall office to discuss his impressions of the Atlantic City convention business and his outlook for the future.
Casino Connection: Tell us about the difference between directing sales for a casino company and directing sales for a government agency such as ACCVA?
Musich: I don’t think it’s that much different. The buildings are different, the Convention Center and Boardwalk Hall, but the process is the same and the customers are the same. We represent all the casino properties as well as sell the Convention Center. When I worked on the casino industry side at Bally’s, we had our own four different properties. Here, I look at it that we have 12 different properties plus the Convention Center.
What is the current status of the meeting business in Atlantic City? Is it more of a regional meeting destination than a national one at this point in time ?
At this moment, it is still more of a regional destination but we are starting to draw far more national business than we have in the past. I think part of that is because Atlantic City is on fire right now. There is a lot of investment and word is spreading that the city is changing dramatically and quickly. The new entertainment offerings are creating national exposure so that, although our business is still regional in nature, we are starting to pull from the national scope of things.
How closely do you work with the casinos when you are bidding for a major trade show? Do you have a set commitment of rooms you can offer or do you go back to the casinos for each new bidding process?
Each piece of business is individual. Each requires a combination of guest rooms, event venues, convention venues, and entertainment venues. It would not be unreasonable for us to send a room-block request to a casino 10 times a week for 10 different groups. A casino will evaluate them based on their current business volumes, the type of business it is, rate requirements of that particular group and then residual revenue sources that would come out of that group like banquets and other events that may be associated with that group.
First and foremost, it’s what the customer needs. Do they need one property, two properties, 12 properties? We will put this data together and make recommendations to the customer then refer a property that really fits their needs. For the larger events, we would require help from all the casino properties. They are very cooperative and very much work with us to benefit the destination. The casino industry in general is looking very positively at how the convention business impacts Atlantic City and their own business.
What is the optimal balance of shows between trade shows, such as the teachers conventions, and public expos, such as the antique show?
I think you have to have a balance of shows. Too many public shows, although they inject a lot of people into the city, will displace trade show and meeting-related business that have multiple-day stays. An individual with a multiple-day stay attending a convention tends to spend considerably more per day than someone attending a public show.
It is all about balancing public shows versus trade shows. We want public shows during a softer time periods, big public shows that draw a great demographic into Atlantic City like the power boat show and the antique car show that is in February. Those types of events pull 45,000 or 50,000 people into Atlantic City in the winter.
The original Convention Hall was built in 1929 to extend the season in Atlantic City, to bring business in during the fall, winter and spring months. Is that still the mission of ACCVA or do you now pitch meetings and conventions for the summer months as well?
We look for value per occupied room. We sell Atlantic City 12 months a year. We also sell Atlantic City seven days a week contrary to the belief that for convention business it’s Sunday through Thursday. That is no longer true.
If you look at Boardwalk Hall, there are shows in there just about every month of the year. Boardwalk Hall for the second year in a row is the second-highest-grossing midsize event venue in the world by Billboard magazine. It’s a great place to see a show and it is utilized to benefit the destination.
At one point, the Taj Mahal had a lock on the smaller conventions, then you made some good inroads when you were at Bally’s. The Tropicana has great meeting space and the Borgata is working on adding more. How is the meeting and convention business in casinos evolving in Atlantic City?
It is growing and growing fast. Once upon a time there were very few properties in Atlantic City that marketed toward that particular segment of business now you see just about every casino property toward that segment of business. Companies like Harrah’s Entertainment are partners of ours, and Hilton supports the convention trade. We refer business to them through our national sales managers that handle hotel business.
The city is probably, more than the casino industry, accepting and interested in this business than any time in my 14 years here. I think they are competing aggressively about it and their future business development plans include services to support this business. It’s throughout the city, it’s broad and I can’t say that there is any single property in Atlantic City that is not doing any convention- or meeting-related business. This is good for Atlantic City because that word has spread nationwide, which has helped broaden our market.
How would the ACCVA respond if one of the new casinos coming into town adds a larger meeting space component with an exhibit hall and meeting rooms and a huge number of hotel rooms?
I think it would be great. I think it would help broaden the market. There are certain times of the year that the Atlantic City Convention Center is maxed out. People may find that hard to believe but there is very little opportunity in the first quarter of the year in the Atlantic City Convention Center. The summers are a high-demand period so from a price-point perspective that limits the number in market that is out there.
Any new facility broadens the market. I would be very supportive of it because we do lose a lot of business in this city. We are not able to take some of the business for a multitude of reasons but availability is the top reason that we can’t accommodate certain trade shows, public shows, conventions and meetings.
Obviously, the image of Atlantic City has changed. How has that image change over the past few years helped you in attracting different conventions into the city and can you give some examples of how it has improved the meeting business?
The image has changed dramatically as everybody I think is aware of. We have a much younger clientele coming to Atlantic City. Amenities to support that clientele either have been built or are planned like the House of Blues, many clubs and restaurants. Atlantic City has wonderful golf courses; there are more than 20 first-class daily-fee golf courses within 30 minutes of Atlantic City. All those lead to a more balanced resort with a longer length of stay that creates huge economic benefits to Atlantic City.
