By Mike Ricketts, Times-Mail
miker@tmnews-com
FRENCH LICK - Officials at the French Lick Casino acknowledge the opening of racinos near Indianapolis and a tight economy have cut into some of its business.
"I admit the Indianapolis area casinos have hurt us," said Brian Marsh, vice president of casino operations.
But he added the French Lick Resort Hotel is a different type of business model than the state's other casinos, not relying solely on money made on the casino floor.
And with the opening of a luxurious high-limit area, a different nonsmoking area and the Pete Dye-designed golf course, Marsh feels the resort/casino has a decent hand even with more gambling options and a recession.
That, however, didn't stop it from recording its lowest monthly profits from slot machines ($5.772 million) in April. The previous low was $5.892 million in February.
The turnstile count in April was 87,988, down more than 20,000 from April of 2008. The most passes through turnstile came in July of 2007 with 160,782 passes.
Marsh said the area, with new hotels and a water park opening, is now starting to feel like a resort destination, even when visitors aren't on the properties owned by the Cook Group, which has funneled $500 million into the historic restoration and casino development project.
Last month after the IGC number were released, French Lick Resort vice president of sales and marketing Mark Bommarito told the Times-Mail that the numbers don't necessarily paint a full picture for the valley venture.
"Every month, when the gaming commission reports come out, people want to focus on the negatives and make generalizations," he said. "Our business model is completely different than the riverboat casino properties. We are a resort that has a casino as one of our amenities.
"We don't live and die by the casino numbers. Yes, we want the casino to do well, but we also have many other streams of revenue."