POLL: Ending Smoking at AC Casinos Would Drive Greater Visitation
74% of Casino Visitors “Much More Likely” to Visit Smokefree AC Casinos
Pollster: “Not Only Will Atlantic City Not Lose Its Customer Base, But Tourism Could Actually Increase if Casinos Were Smokefree”
December 13, 2023 Contact: press@no-smoke.org
Atlantic City, NJ—Atlantic City, NJ – As New Jersey legislators consider bipartisan bills to close the casino smoking loophole, a new poll finds ending indoor smoking would attract more customers to Atlantic City casinos. Philadelphia area adults living in Pennsylvania and New Jersey are much more likely to visit Atlantic City casinos if they are completely smokefree.
The poll finds that nearly three-in-four adults (74%) say they’re more likely to visit an entirely smokefree casino, while only 26% were less likely. Among non casino-goers, even more (76%) are more likely to visit a smokefree Atlantic City casino. Pennsylvanians (76%) and New Jerseyans (71%) living in the Philadelphia area are also more likely to visit a casino if it is smokefree. Read the polling memo here.
“These data indicate that not only will Atlantic City not lose its customer base, but tourism could actually increase if casinos were smokefree,” said Jill Normington, Partner at Normington Petts, who conducted the poll.
“This is the latest evidence that going smokefree indoors is good for business,” said Cynthia Hallett, president and CEO of Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights. “It’s past time for New Jersey legislators to reject casino industry scare tactics and finally close the casino smoking loophole during this lame duck session. Casino workers’ lives are hanging in the balance.”
“This poll backs up what we routinely hear from customers at the tables – they don’t come to smoke, they come to gamble,“ said Lamont White, a leader of Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects (CEASE). “As Governor Murphy has said, ‘Atlantic City is a gem. We’ve got the ocean and the other competitors don’t.’ If we have smokefree air, not only will more people come, but we’ll save the lives of thousands of table games dealers.”
Methodology
The online survey was conducted among 500 adults in the Philadelphia media market in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Interviews were conducted December 5-7, 2023. The sampling error for this survey is plus or minus 4.4 percentage points. The poll was commissioned by a coalition of public health non-profit organizations.
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ABOUT AMERICANS FOR NONSMOKERS' RIGHTS
Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights (ANR) is a member-supported, non-profit advocacy group that has been working for over 45 years, since 1976, to protect everyone’s right to breathe nontoxic air in workplaces and public places, from offices and airplanes to restaurants, bars, and casinos. ANR has continuously shined a light on the tobacco industry’s interference with sound and life-saving public health measures and successfully protected 61% of the population with local or statewide smokefree workplace, restaurant, and bar laws. ANR aims to close gaps in smokefree protections for workers in all workplaces, including bars, music venues, casinos, and hotels. For more information, please visit https://nonsmokersrights.org and https://smokefreecasinos.org.