Trump Casinos: Dead or Alive?
1st October, 2007
It has been some time the tusk of an elephant outside the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort has vanished in a thin air.
The casino has glued back the new tusk, as they need to aim to perfection now without leaving any small details, as the competition is getting tougher in casino business in the Atlantic City. The market is experiencing very good growth, which is why more new casinos, better funded, are starting to penetrate the market, making it harder and harder for the three Trump casinos to survive.
Donald Trump, company chairman, said this: "You have a lot of competition to Atlantic City now, which it's never had before. Now it's really a question of marketing and running (the Trump casinos) beautifully."
The company is not in a very good position at the moment, as it is more than $1.5 billion in debt. The new casinos, that haven’t got any financial troubles of this kind, as they’re better sponsored; have more chances of success now, as they are building their venues on a recently embraced Las Vegas Style appeal. There are also at least two new firms with very good funding, that are planning to open new casinos with Las Vegas appeal in the next four years.
According to a 30 year veteran casino executive, Mark Juliano, who used to run Caesars Palace, one of the trump casinos in Vegas: "Our turnaround strategy has always been to identify our better customers and market to them. It's to try to get the company away from depending on the day-trip gambler as opposed to someone who wants to come for a two- or three-day entertainment experience."
To make this happen the casino is now building a second tower at the Taj Mahal that will open after the middle of 2008. The project will cost them $255, but is essential as it will accommodate the more long-term customers. The number of rooms after the development all together should come to 3,670 rooms, which is approximately same as the new casino that should be built by Revel Entertainment Group.
These rooms are expected to help the casino cover their dept, that remained on the company’s account even after it announced its bankruptcy in 2005.
In recent time Trump casinos have redecorated rooms, opened restaurants and made some fresh touches to the rest of the establishments.
One of the guests in the casino for the recent trade show, Brian Fennel of Lumberton, N.J., expressed his opinion of the casinos new renovations: "The decor is fresh. It looks new and up-to-date. I had a great time."
