Companies in the casino industry based on tourism and leisure of global travelers are grappling with the rare gloomy scene caused by the coronavirus.
This week, thousands of people are expected to travel to Las Vegas to attend business conferences. And then, the South by Southwest annual festival was held in Austin, Texas in this month. In addition, this summer, the Olympic Games will be held in Tokyo, Japan.
When the coronavirus broke out in Hubei, China in January, the disruption of the hotel business and, more broadly is tourism, seemed to be confined to those who often came and came from China. But after that, the pandemic spread across the globe from Europe to the US, and the impact spread to companies of the smokeless industry around the world.
Hyatt Hotels is an example. Mark S. Hoplamazian, president and chief executive officer of Hyatt, said that: The Group had to withdraw its newly released financial statements on March 2 due to the rapidly changing situation and uncertain tourism needs of consumers.
While many corporations restrict unnecessary trips and gatherings, convention centers, hotels, and other casino companies are struggling to find ways to deal with the growing fear of coronaviruses.
Another city that is also in a state of anxiety and closely monitoring the spread in Las Vegas, a city famous for hotels and casinos. Last year, more than 6.6 million (15.5%) of the 42.5 million people went to Las Vegas to attend conferences. Shares of betting companies Wynn Resorts and Las Vegas Sands have dropped more than 20% this year, mainly due to the closure of huge casinos in Macau in 2 weeks.
Las Vegas had to cancel its first major conference on March 2, which is an annual meeting of Adobe Systems with 20,000 attendees and top speakers such as actress, businessman Gwyneth Paltrow, British midfielder Tom Brady, and comedian Chelsea Handler, along with the CEOs and senior executives of numerous companies. Adobe said it plans to host a part of the online conference.
Analysts say companies in the accommodation, betting, and entertainment industry, including yachts and parks, know they have a short-term drop in revenue but are not sure how to respond if the situation continues for the summer or longer?
We know one thing for sure – this is the time for all the land-based casinos to join the online casinos world and help their customers and themselves to go through those hard times.