With or Without You? Building a Case for Further MICE (Meetings,Incentive Travel,Conventions, Exhibitions) Development in Macao

Macao's gross gaming revenues have increased considerably in the past decade since casino liberalization to more than 6 times that of the Las Vegas Strip (Nevada). Macao's global dominance in gaming revenues is in contrast to Macao's meetings, incentive travel, conventions, and exhibitions (MICE) development. With comparisons to the Las Vegas Strip model of a balance between gaming and conventions, Macao's MICE industry has not advanced in tandem with Macao's casino expansion. Macao's bolstering gaming revenues have presented little incentive for most gaming operators to move beyond, with conventions and exhibitions remaining on the fringes of hospitality offerings as a supporting unit to casino product positioning.

As the Cotai Strip enters its second wave of integrated resort construction an increasing number of MICE, as well as other nongaming venues, will be included within the resort designs. A key vision behind casino liberalization, as well as an expressed wish by the Chinese authorities, is for Macao to diversify its tourism portfolio to include more MICE development. Examining Macao's casino tourism growth trajectory, this article suggests this limited growth in MICE could continue. Isolating key limiting factors, strategic actions are presented in the paper as approaches to further involve and potentially advance MICE development along Macao's Cotai Strip.     

Influential Leadership and Media: How a Single Statement Can Affect an Industry

Historically, the most powerful political and organizational leaders have been described as being charismatic. With technology's increasing impact on society, these leaders have widespread access to the masses. Utilizing charismatic leadership and media saliency theories, this study aims to analyze the impact that occurred in the Las Vegas convention industry after the President made specific comments concerning Las Vegas. These comments implied that convention spending in Las Vegas was wasteful, and resulted in the cancellation or relocation of over 400 conventions in one week. This research utilizes monthly, aggregate convention data from January 2002 to March 2014 to evaluate the impact of this comment empirically. Time series regression analysis was conducted to estimate the effect of President Obama's comment, controlling for other factors. The results suggest that President Obama's comments had a significant negative effect on both convention attendance and the number of meetings held. The findings provide insight into the effect of singular comments made by influential leaders.     

Understanding the relationship among motivation to attend,satisfaction, and loyalty of medical convention attendees

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship among convention attendance, satisfaction, and loyalty of medical convention attendees. The data were compiled after a major medical conference held in Las Vegas in 2015. A total of 1,091 completed surveys were evaluated using structural analysis. The study indicated that attendee's motivation for attendance was significantly different than other studies that utilized different target markets. It was found that motivation impacted satisfaction which in turn influenced desire to attend future conventions. This study also provides discussions and implications for convention research and industry practices.     

California Resident Motives for Gambling at Indian Reservations Versus Las Vegas

The casino gaming sector has become a lucrative part of the hospitality industry. California Indian casinos have expanded to now compete with casinos in Las Vegas, but more California residents gamble in Las Vegas casinos. Little research has been conducted to reveal why California residents travel to Las Vegas to gamble at casinos when California Indian casinos are closer. Thus, this study focused on what motivates California residents to gamble at California Indian casinos as opposed to those who gamble at Las Vegas casinos. A total of 300 online surveys were used for data analysis. First, exploratory factor analysis was performed to find the underlying dimensions of casino motivations. Second, independent-samples t-tests were conducted to compare the perceptions the two groups have of casinos. Then, one-way ANOVA tests were implemented to find differences between casino motivation factors and six different demographic variables. This study will help both California Indian and Las Vegas casinos to assess their services and more effectively market to California residents.     

Estimating the impact of entertainment on the restaurant revenues of a Las Vegas hotel casino: An exploratory study

Considering the growing presence of non-gaming amenities in a mature casino market such as the Las Vegas Strip, this study examined the indirect contribution of showroom entertainment to casino-operated restaurant business volumes. Using the internal data of a Las Vegas hotel casino, this research found a statistically significant and positive relationship between daily showroom headcounts and food and beverage revenues. For each additional show attendee, daily food and beverage revenue increased $6.96. This finding suggests that casino executives should consider leveraging show traffic with additional revenue-enhancing venues such as restaurants.     

A comparative study for determinants of gaming performance in Macao and Las Vegas

This paper studies gaming efficiency with data envelopment analyses (DEA) and its determinants with seemingly unrelated regressions (SUR). We show that gaming efficiency is higher in Macao than in Las Vegas and can be improved in both places. We find that Macao casino performance hinges on China's economic growth and visitor arrivals as well as VIP service and promotional marketing while non-gaming business and slot gaming are contributors to Las Vegas tourism efficiency. We also indicate that the 2008 global financial crisis and the 2014 China anti-corruption movement are hugely disruptive to gaming efficiency both in Macao and Las Vegas. Those results provide policy makers and casino managers with useful implications for efficiency enhancement in gaming-led tourism and hospitality.     

Job Satisfaction,Organizational Commitment,and Internal Service Quality

Abstract

The purpose of this study, was to create a case study in employee attitudes on job satisfaction, in a major Las Vegas, Nevada hotel/casino. To accomplish this, the authors specifically investigated the discrete level of their job satisfaction, internal service quality, and organizational commitment. They also explored the overall impact of job satisfaction and internal service quality on employee organizational commitment. Currently there is no reported research on the simultaneous examination of these three variables. The results of this study have practical applications given the size and the nature of the casino business, in which a large number of employees may be assembled in a single location, and where employees may move easily from one property to another.     

Conventions and Gaming in Las Vegas: Friends,Enemies, or Strangers?

As cities look at various industries to strengthen their economies, officials have begun to examine conventions and gaming more closely as they have often been considered “recession-proof.” This study utilizes time series regression to analyze the effects of convention attendance and hotel occupancy on monthly gaming revenues for Las Vegas from 2002 to 2013. Three commonly held opposing viewpoints in trade literature are that conventions reduce, augment, or complement gaming. These viewpoints produced the hypotheses for this study. It was found that convention attendance had no significant relationship with gaming revenue; however, citywide hotel occupancy was found to have a significant positive relationship with gaming revenue. This finding rules out the reduction and augmentation hypotheses.     

Study on the Degree of Importance of Convention Service Factors

ABSTRACT

As customers come to understand that service is one of the most important industry products, identifying customer needs and providing what they want will be essential to a successful approach in service-related industries. In consideration of the increased importance of service in the convention industry, this article identifies convention service factors and provides statistical analysis based on data from the actual industry. The results of this research will enhance an understanding of the factors used by customers to evaluate the quality of convention service and help planners improve their performance in the planning of conventions.     

Development of the Convention Industry in Korea

ABSTRACT

The convention industry in Korea has experienced a rapid development, and the hosting of international meetings and events has emerged as a major business in Korea's tourism industry. This paper provides an overview of the development of the convention industry in Korea and assesses the current convention market by applying SWOT analysis. The country's current marketing strategies are also evaluated. The analysis suggests that Korea has great opportunities to emerge as a new international convention destination in the 21st century. The future growth of Korea's convention industry depends on whether the country can manage the challenges better than competitors with effective marketing strategies.     

Enhancing the Role of Host Communities in the Management of Protected Areas through Effective Two-way Communications: A Case Study

This paper conducts an analysis of Macau's strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) as related to its gaming development strategy in the wake of its issuance of multiple gaming licenses. The analysis shows that copying the Las Vegas style is non-optimal for Macau because it will force Macau to compete with Las Vegas and other Las Vegas-style Asian gaming destinations for casino visitors and fight with Hong Kong for non-gaming tourists in the future. Furthermore, this approach will change Macau's current market position as a gamblers' destination and cut into operation profits. Taking advantage of its cultural heritage and unique market segmentation, Macau may develop Chinese- and/or Portuguese-theme casinos heavily leaning toward gaming activities. By creating its own gaming model, Macau may not only maintain its market niche in the future but also develop its gaming industry in a more profitable way.     

Forecasting in Short-Term Planning and Management for a Casino Buffet Restaurant

SUMMARY

Demand fluctuation accounts for an important consideration in a restaurant's daily operational decisions. Good short-term planning and management require accurate forecasts of daily demand. The objective of this study is three-fold: (1) to apply, evaluate, and compare different methods of forecasting customer counts for an on-premises buffet restaurant of a local casino in Las Vegas, (2) to describe and propose a combined forecasting approach for this casino buffet restaurant, and (3) to explore the concept of revenue and capacity management for this buffet restaurant. Eight forecasting models were tested and evaluated by two common error measures. The results suggest that a double moving average model was the most accurate model with the smallest MAPE and RMSPE. Extensive discussions on forecasting and planning/management in buffet operations are provided along with recommended future research.     

Examining the indirect impact of showroom entertainment on hourly slot gaming volume: The case of a Las Vegas hotel-casino

With the advent of the destination casino resort featuring multifaceted entertainment and convention venues in the gaming industry, researchers have attempted to estimate the indirect gaming contributions of non-gaming casino amenities such as showroom entertainment and restaurants. The daily data of aggregate gaming volumes analyzed in previous gaming research, however, do not allow exploring transient gaming volumes associated with casino amenities during a much narrower range of time periods (i.e., hourly). The current investigation addressed this limitation by examining the relationship between showroom headcount and hourly slot gaming volume for the time period that fell adjacent to the show's start and end times. Based on the time-series regression analysis of daily data from a Las Vegas Strip hotel-casino, the current study found a positive and statistically significant effect of showroom headcounts on hourly slot volume at 6 p.m., 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. The estimated incremental slot revenue per paid showroom attendee, however, was financially immaterial. Considering major investments in showroom entertainment at many casinos, the current study will help casino operators evaluate the showroom's return-on-investment.     

Optimization-based convention site selection method

The meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions industry has developed greatly in recent decades, and has become an important driver of the regional economy. Many big cities are eager to develop the meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions industry as a means of stimulating their economies. As is well known, convention site selection is one of most important research topics related to the meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions industry, and this article presents an optimization-based method for convention site selection. This proposed method takes the non-quantifiable factors of site selection into account, and it adopts the use of second-hand data to quantitatively evaluate the performance of candidate sites with respect to several quantifiable factors. The proposed method is applied instead of using questionnaire surveys, and it is applicable for selecting convention sites even when the candidate sites are in the same cities. The method presented in this article takes various site-level factors into account (such as the meeting and accommodation facilities), along with city-level factors (such as the site environments). The main focus of this article is to provide a concrete method, along with a series of suggestions to help convention planners in making appropriate site-selection decisions.     

Influences on Video Poker Machine Performance

Abstract

This study seeks to determine if slot machine performance levels are influenced by casino floor location and specific game characteristics. A Las Vegas hotel casino supplied the results of 418, $0.25, video poker machines, which were used to test hypotheses based on the findings of extant performance-potential research and casino management theory. Results from a simultaneous multiple regression model indicate that the core locations of the slot floor, featuring superior access and traffic volume, outperform the perimeter locations. Variables representing cabinet style (i.e., slant-top and bar-top units), par and program are also found to influence a machine's performance, at the .05 alpha level. The resulting equation offers an alternative performance measure that considers the unique operating parameters of a game, moving beyond basic performance comparisons of unit results to category averages (e.g., all $0.05 video poker games).     

Prediction and Reality

Abstract

In a landmark study carried out for the New South Wales State Government in 1976 the present author analysed the economic impact of the meetings and convention industry in Australia. That report laid the foundation for the development of the Sydney Entertainment and Exhibition Centre, although it was not until some time later that purpose-built convention centres began to be constructed in the major convention destinations of Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth. The 1976 study provided a benchmark for the early characteristics of the Australian convention industry that can now be updated and critically examined.

Longitudinal studies of this nature are now becoming possible with the passage of time since the first focussed research into tourism in Australia was carried out. This paper sets out the predictions made in 1976 for the likely size of the meetings and convention industry in 1993, analyses the assumptions made then and their impact on those predictions; and compares them with the actual characteristics of the industry in 1993-4. Recent research shows that the original predictions considerably understated the actual growth of this sector of the tourism industry. While differences in methodology make direct comparison difficult, it would appear that the dollar value of the conventions part of the MICE industry in Australia as estimated in 1976 (after correction for inflation) was about 73 percent of the actual result in 1993-94. This shows that the Australian domestic and international convention sector has grown faster than appeared possible in 1976.     

Tiers or Tears?

ABSTRACT

The convention and meetings business worldwide has grown to become a significant economic, political, and social phenomenon. Convention centers aggressively compete for the right to become the destinations for conventions, which increasingly can be held anywhere in the world. More recently, first-tier convention centers have begun to use digital marketing by developing sites on the World Wide Web. However, very little research to date has focused on these convention center Web sites. This study examined the Web sites of 10 major convention centers in the U.S.-each with 500,000 square feet or more of exhibit space-in terms of technical, marketing, internal, and customer critical success factors (CSFs). It was concluded that these Web sites should be further developed and improved, particularly in their marketing and customer-related aspects. The Web sites were evaluated once in 2000 and again in 2001, and a slight improvement in performance was noted.     

Meeting Planners' Perceptions of Site Selection Characteristics

Abstract

This study aims to examine meeting planner assessments of convention site selection characteristics for international meetings/conventions and to appraise the strengths and weaknesses of six selected major convention hotels in Seoul, Korea. The principle components procedure indicated that four factors accounted for 78 percent of the cumulative variance of the eleven site selection variables listed in the study.     

Is It Difficult to Market a City as a Convention Destination?

Abstract

Convention tourism is a very lucrative form of tourism and is becoming one of the fastest growing sectors in the tourism industry. Greece, a traditional tourist destination worldwide, has not developed its convention sector satisfactorily. This paper presents the outcome of a small scale qualitative research in the form of in-depth interviews with six experts of organizing meetings and conventions, which were undertaken in order to explore the potential of Thessaloniki as a convention destination by assessing its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The results revealed that Thessaloniki has a potential to develop this special form of tourism and ameliorate the low tourist inflow. However, it is a difficult task, mainly due to the lack of cooperation among the city's stakeholders.