The Rhode Island Hospitality and Tourism Association is fighting to keep Harrah’s
Entertainment Inc. from entering the state, but a local union is so excited
about the prospect of new jobs it is already discussing training programs with
the gaming giant.
As the Rhode Island Hospitality and Tourism Association opposes Harrah’s “sleep-eat-shop-and-gamble” casino, saying it “would decimate the established hospitality industry here and in nearby states,” the Hotel and Restaurant Workers International Union is focused on the anticipated 6,700 jobs linked directly and indirectly to the casino.
“We see this is an opportunity to create thousands of high quality jobs. The real issue is there are a lot of people in Rhode Island who need those jobs, and they deserve the living wages, benefits and health insurance” that Harrah’s can provide, said Hotel and Restaurant Workers International Union Organizer Alisa Gallo.
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The Narragansett Indian tribe, which is lobbying to put the question of whether voters approve of a tribe-run casino in West Warwick on the November ballot, say jobs from Harrah’s venture – the third largest gaming company behind Park Place Entertainment and Mirage – will pay $47,000 a year, including tips and benefits.
The casino will need to hire casino and hotel workers, security, maintenance and groundskeepers, accountants, office and administrative positions, retail salespeople, human resource professionals, food service positions and droves of others, according to information on the tribe’s Web site.
The hospitality and tourism industry employs more than 61,000 Rhode Islanders, according to the tourism association. The association said there is a shortage of qualified service employees, saying the staff Harrah’s requires would deplete the number of quality employees, “severely impacting guest experiences and giving Rhode Island a bad name.”
“This is the first time I’ve ever heard that argument against a casino, that there aren’t enough qualified workers. My other favorite is that the casino would drive up wages in the area, as if that is a bad thing,” Harrah’s Director of Public Affairs Dean Hestermann said.
The union agrees.
“There are privately funded training programs for this. Harrah’s has an enormous training program in Las Vegas, one in Atlantic City, and (Harrah’s is) talking to us about developing a job training program here,” Gallo said. “There are people in Rhode Island who would love to work there.”
State Director of Tourism David Depetrillo agrees with the governor and the hospitality group that “from a policy stand point,” a large-scale casino like Harrah’s would drain the state’s established hospitality industry – which generates over $3.6 billion in annual revenue to the state – and ultimately hurt the economy.
Rudi Heater, general manager of the Crowne Plaza Hotel at the Crossings in Warwick and vice chairman of hospitality association, said though the casino would attract more tourists to the area, the tourism boost wouldn’t benefit hotels and businesses in the state.
“In places like Connecticut and Atlantic City there has been no proof that people look outside the casino for hotel rooms,” Heater said.
Heater said because most of the 5,000 hospitality venues in the state are small, family owned businesses that wouldn’t be able to compete with the discounted fare offered inside the casino. When asked if he thought eating dinner at one of Foxwoods Resort Casino restaurants is cheaper than the average restaurant Heater said, “No, the prices at Foxwoods are horrifically expensive, but when the casino first opened they offered 50-percent discounts and coupons to establish their customer base.
“It isn’t an insult, I commend their approach, but if Harrah’s comes in and does the same thing, it will hurt businesses.” Hestermann said the hospitality industry is “looking at the casino the wrong way,” saying Harrah’s is trying to compete with Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos, not Newport Grand or Lincoln.
“This casino would capture the revenue that is crossing state lines into Connecticut and create a tourism boom. When is the last time a convention group came to Rhode Island to play at Lincoln or Newport? Harrah’s would draw in tourism and those tourists will eat and stay in nearby restaurants and hotels. The casino would fill an empty niche market in Rhode Island,”Hestermann said.
The hospitality association is also concerned that with about 500 hotel rooms now open south of Providence, the hotel market is overbuilt in this area The addition of 500 new rooms associated with the casino would negatively impact occupancy rates of existing hotels, the association states.
“Harrah’s is not proposing a casino, they are proposing a mega-resort casino, which will directly compete with the state’s hotels, convention centers, and restaurants,” the association statement said. “Once people are inside the casino, they will not leave to dine in Rhode Island restaurants, shop in stores or stay in the state’s hotels.”
The two established gaming venues pay a “gaming tax” of 60 percent. Harrah’s proposed paying only 25 percent. If Harrah’s cuts into Lincoln’s and Newport’s revenue by 30 percent as expected, less money will be paid to the state and revenues will decrease, Newport Grand CEO Diane Hurley said.
“The tribe’s own experts confirm the governor’s business instinct; that a casino would, indeed, seriously impact Newport Grand and Lincoln Park. If the state loses revenue from those two facilities, the state will lose money,” Hurley said in a statement.
