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MOREHEAD CITY -- In many ways, Harrah's Cherokee Casino has been a godsend for the Cherokee Indian Reservation in western North Carolina, and for those who live in neighboring communities.
Attracting 4 million visitors each year, the casino employs 1,700 people and provides the Cherokee Tribe with needed revenue, said David Redman, director of the Cherokee Travel and Promotions Office. Several motels that used to close five months out of the year, now stay open year-round, and the tribe is building a new hotel that will employ another 300 people, Redman said.
But many of the gamblers are a different breed of visitor than those who travel to the mountains for majestic scenery and historical edification, Redman said.
"The dedicated gaming audience is not a tourist (audience)," Redman said.
And those representing North Carolina's travel industry hold differing opinions as to whether gaming would be a good tourism attraction in other parts of the state.
"I think there's a sense among most of the people that I've worked with that North Carolina is a family tourism destination, and that is not compatible with gambling," said Gerry Hancock, general council for the Travel and Tourism Coalition of North Carolina, a lobbying group that represents the travel industry.
While the coalition has not taken an official stand on gambling in general, it did support state Rep. David Redwine, D-Brunswick, in 1999 when he a attempted to push through legislation designed to keep casino boats like those operating out of Little River, S.C., from coming to North Carolina. Called "cruises to nowhere," these boats embark from South Carolina and take passengers out into federal waters for a night of poker and other games, bypassing state gambling laws.
"There was no disparity that that kind of gambling operation that had been seen in South Carolina should stop or that we would not want to see that in North Carolina," Hancock said.
Yet some tourism officials said then, and now, that they would not mind gambling boats on the North Carolina coast.
"I think a cruise ship to nowhere would be very successful," said Carteret County Tourism Director Carol Lohr, who is past president of the Travel Council of North Carolina and serves on the state Travel and Tourism Board. The Travel Council is made up mostly of those representing convention and visitors bureaus in the state.
Lohr said gambling facilities attract large conventions and could be packaged in a family-oriented vacation. She pointed to some parts of Las Vegas as an example.
But tourism leaders in Las Vegas say any family image is a misnomer.
Myram Borders, news bureau chief for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, said her agency never really targeted families with children for the gambling mecca. That hype came after several amusement facilities, such as MGM Grand Hotel and Theme Park, opened, she said.
"The media immediately assumed Las Vegas was turning into a place for families, and they kept that theme up for awhile," Borders said.
Some of the gambling hotels set out to combat the publicity and even sent out press releases saying they were still an adult-oriented destination, Borders said.
Soon, even the MGM Grand Hotel had closed the theme park and started catering to the gamblers, Border said.
"Probably a look at gaming revenues made them become steady adult," Borders said.
Those in Cherokee are also seeing some problems with the family-gambling theme mix.
"From a standpoint of economics, we couldn't have gotten a better product in here," Redman said. Casino revenues are high, and the gambling attracts millions to the area.
"Our other attractions are not doing as well once the gaming came in," Redman said.
About 3 million of the 4 million who come to Harrah's Cherokee Casino are tourists who gamble as just one of the activities they participate in on their trip to the Great Smokey Mountains, Redman said. Many of them are choosing to gamble rather than visit other attractions.
While the restaurants and the gift shops in the area are holding their own, attendance at the outdoor drama "Unto These Hills" continues to decline, Redman said.
Whether it's good or bad for tourism, one thing everyone agrees on: Gambling is big business.
"It's a big draw all over the country; there's not too many of them that's not successful," said Jim Godfrey, executive director of the Kinston Convention and Visitors Bureau and president-elect of the Travel Council of North Carolina.
"It's an industry that could probably thrive in North Carolina in certain locales," Godfrey said.
It is also well-known that North Carolina has a history of opposition to gambling, even a state lottery, Godfrey said.
If those who bet on gambling in this state are ever to get lucky, they must first come up with the safeguards to control any other kind of criminal element that might be associated with such an attraction, Godfrey said.
"You certainly don't want these facilities to be near a school," Godfrey said.
They should also look at problems that have developed in other states where gambling is allowed and what solutions were found, Godrey said. For instance, some states have strict spending limits at casinos, he said.
"You couldn't go in there and lose your entire life savings. They are only going to allow you to spend so much money," Godfrey said.
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