Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny Ryall
I do know the Tulsa region has more than one casino and I never stated otherwise. Most of Tulsa's nearby casinos are lone and scattered around outside the city 360 degrees while Tunica Resorts is a single town-district. Apples & Oranges really. You go on only to reinforce my point that Tunica is a short drive from the Memphis/Tennessee border with an Interstate route & another 4-lane highway going right to it. You can be there in 25 minutes from Memphis Int'l and 35 minutes from Downtown with 9 casinos to choose from in the same vicinity. Tunica Resorts is not in expansion mode, but there were massive development proposals before the recession such as a $2 billion resort and other rumblings of theme & water parks. Tunica Resorts has the ability to go much bigger and the growing tourism industry in Memphis only helps it. Numbers have shown that a lot of the tourists that come to Memphis to visit Beale Street, Graceland or see an NBA game, etc. like to go down to the casinos for a night or two as well. So, it only adds to the regional draw.
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I think we were going off different ideas. I was thinking more about the notion that other areas that had few or no gambling and tourist options are now getting them and thus perhaps peeling of some of Tunica's growth potential. Not that it can't grow, just that it, and other small/medium regional "players" will not likely have as much, or as easy, a time at it as they once could have.
Another example is the Dallas/Fort worth metroplex. There are large casino complexes going in on the Oklahoma border like the Winstar World Casino (I have done several projects for them). Though it's in Oklahoma, you pretty much only see Texas tags in the lot and they have shuttles going to the Metroplex as well. Another example of a little more people here and there, drawn from a large and major market, that might have made a trip to another area or region to gamble or vacation, now are getting pulled away.
You used to occasionally hear about Tunica even here in Tulsa. Ads in the paper, local magazines, radio, TV,,, now that is overwhelmed with daily ads about Hard Rock Casino and River Spirit (Why go all the way to Tunica when you can have fun right nearby?), and likely the same for the Dallas area with Winstar (which is undergoing a huge expansion and upgrade), etc.
No doubt Memphis and Tunica can still grow and become bigger tourist attractions. But like everything, you can't stand still cause the other guy will be out there also trying to grow, up their game, and pull people there way.