While no new casinos are in the offing for Atlantic City anytime soon, there is some optimism about the future.
 

Plans for a Hard Rock casino in Atlantic City have been scrapped.  The Revel resort has been struggling to increase revenue, and contractors are taking more legal action to get payment for their work on the project.

Despite those developments, there are still hopes that Atlantic City will be able to attract more visitors.

Israel Posner is executive director of the Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism at Richard Stockton College.

“I think the days as a gambling mecca is not what the future is. We’re now entering it’s almost like back to the future, that you’re going back to what Atlantic City always was, I mean 130 years it was a resort. It’s a destination resort.”

Roger Gros is publisher of Global Gaming Business Magazine, a trade publication for the casino industry. He also says non-gaming activities will be the way for Atlantic City to succeed.

“I think it’s going to become one of the places to go on the east coast when it comes to entertainment and shopping and things of that nature. I think Atlantic City is a very healthy town and the future is very bright for it. It’s just not going to be the gaming market that it used to be.”

Gros says he expects Revel will pay its contractors and that the resort will be a success, justifying the state’s investment in providing tax credits to help get Revel completed.