Casinos in Atlantic City have been shut down since March 16, but some of the locations are starting to make plans to reopen. Several of the nine casinos in Atlantic City have already announced that they are now taking reservations, although the dates are different for all of them.
Even though several casinos are making plans to reopen their doors, there is still no word from the governor as to when they will be allowed to open. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy gave the word to the casinos on March 16 to suspend all operations, but he has been slow to allow casinos to return to business.
Atlantic City is one of the biggest casino industries in the United States, and it has been hit hard by the coronavirus. The state of New Jersey is also suffering economically with the shut down of the resorts and casinos, and many lawmakers are hoping that the governor will loosen the restrictions before the end of the month.
Hard Rock Atlantic City was the first casino to announce that they would begin accepting hotel reservations again. Guests can begin making reservations for arrival as early as May 28 at Hard Rock Atlantic City, but it is still unclear if the resort will be open by then.
There are five other resorts in Atlantic City that are being a bit more reasonable when it comes to accepting reservations as they are taking bookings that begin on June 7. These five locations are Caesars, Bally’s, Resorts, Harrah’s, and Tropicana.
Ocean Casino and Golden Nugget, both in Atlantic City, are also taking reservations, but they will not accept guests until at least June 15. While there is a chance that the first six locations might miss their mark, most experts in New Jersey believe that June 15 is a safe date.
The most powerful resort in the state of New Jersey has taken an even more cautious approach when it comes to accepting reservations. MGM Resorts’ Borgata is not taking any reservations from customers until at least July 1.
Different Approach
Governor Murphy has taken a unique approach when it comes to reopening of the state of New Jersey. Other states around the country have created phases to announce the reopening of businesses, but Murphy has been making a different announcement each day.
Several different groups of businesses were allowed to reopen this week, but Murphy has noted that casinos are not even close to that point. New Jersey Senate President Stephen Sweeney is worried that Murphy is taking too long and needs to make some announcements soon.
Sweeney is afraid that New Jersey is waiting too long to reopen businesses, and it could cost the state millions of dollars. Sweeney is hoping that businesses can reopen and that they can be shut down if something goes wrong.
The state of New Jersey has been hit extremely hard by the pandemic, but that hasn’t been the case in Atlantic County. The county has implemented several health and safety safeguards that have kept the spread of the virus to a minimum.
Gross gaming revenue in Atlantic City dropped more than 67 percent from April 2019 to April 2020. The difference in GGR from May 2019 to May 2020 is expected to be even larger as casinos remain closed throughout the state.
Beaches and boardwalks have been allowed to reopen in Atlantic City, and summer is one of the busiest times for the resort town. Visitors are expected to flock to the town, but they won’t have anywhere to stay without resorts opening up.
