Gambling news from http://www.zwire.com/
All along, proponents of the proposed Narragansett-Harrah's casino have argued the facility would drive traffic to other Rhode Island businesses. And yesterday, they unveiled plans to make that happen.
"Total Rewards" points earned at the proposed Harrah's casino in West Warwick would be good for services and products at participating Rhode Island Businesses, pro-casino groups CompeteRI and the Rhode Islanders for Jobs and Tax Relief announced yesterday.
They also announced restaurant Robert I. Burke - owner of Providence restaurants Pot au Feu and Federal Reserve - will be managing a Gateway Center to provide information about the state's hospitality- and tourism-related venues.
"Bob's been working on this for a while," said Rick Simone, spokesman for CompeteRI, a coalition of pro-casino businesses. "It just shows his will to make sure the state is taken care of as a whole."
But Representatives of the anti-casino group Save Our State - which issued a press statement within hours of the CompeteRI announcement - said they weren't impressed by the program.
"It's just one more empty promise," said Patti Doyle, a spokeswoman for SOS. "They're throwing money around. But they're not just insulting our intelligence, they're assuming we don't have any."
She said SOS, which has contended the casino will pull tourists and others away from area businesses, isn't likely to lose supporters over the announcement.
"It's just one more example of Harrah's trying to buy people's vote," she said.
According to a prepared statement by CompeteRI, the Gateway Center would "offer state-of-the-art access to information and services to connect the 5 million expected annual visitors to the NIC (Narragansett Indian Casino) in West Warwick with Rhode Island's other popular tourist attractions and small businesses, including its restaurants, hotels, motels, mansions, theatres, museums, galleries, beaches, bays and historic sites."
Harrah's and the Narragansetts haven't yet signed up businesses for the Total Rewards Partnership, Simone said. Burke will likely reach out to CompeteRI members first, Simone said, then move on to other businesses.
"They'll spread the word from there," he said.
Simone expected organizations like his would see an influx of support from residents and business owners who'd been on the fence about the casino until now, but whose concerns about its economic impact could now be allayed. But he said some anti-casino businesses could be converted as well.
"I think it'll be a little of both," he said.
Doyle, for her part, said she expects SOS member groups such as the Rhode Island Hospitality and Tourism Association and the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce to stay strong in their opposition. And she said those who follow the anti-casino crowd's other arguments - that it's wrong to change the state constitution to make way for a specific business, without absolute guarantees of tax relief or other terms - will be unaffected.
"They're asking an awful lot of the people of Rhode Island," she said.
In protest, during yesterday's announcement, SOS sent a new attention-grabber to the event - a man dressed as "Harry the Harrah's Hog," which Doyle said illustrated Harrah's attempt to "hog everything for itself."
"I believe you'll see more appearances of Harry," Doyle said.
Simone called the hog costume "pretty humorous."
But, he said: "I don't particularly think a pig costume at a business-related event is a tactic our 400-plus businesses would relate to." |
|
World Casino Directory 
Gambling Forums 
