Hard Rock Chairman says casino recovery could take ‘a year’

Jim Allen admits he does not see a quick return to normal business for casinos in the US and beyond.

US.- The Chairman of Hard Rock International says the casino industry recovery could take ‘a year’ as lockdown measures have forced closures all over the globe.

In an interview on Wednesday (April 22) with CNBC, Jim Allen admitted he does not see a quick return to normal business for casinos.

He said: “There’s going to be a real challenge, especially here in the United States, as far as ramping the business back up. We’re planning on that taking a year.”

Hard Rock International, bought by the Seminole Tribe of Florida in 2007, owns casinos, hotels, and Hard Rock Cafes around the world.

Allen noted that the company’s hotel in Shenzen, a city just outside of Hong Kong, had been operating in recent weeks but only at 12 per cent capacity.

This Hard Rock casino has been open for nearly a month as the country continues to attempt recovery from the first wave of Coronavirus infections.

“We reopened the Shenzhen Hotel, obviously [in] a global city in China. Beautiful property. Occupancy is right now at 12%. We’ve been reopen for a good 3½, almost four weeks.”

Allen also predicted struggles ahead for the recovery of Hard Rock’s Atlantic City casino, where a large portion of visitors travel from neighbouring New York, the epicentre of Coronavirus outbreak in the USA.

“We’re very concerned about that business as we try to navigate through the summer, which is traditionally the time of year when they have their most profitable months.”

Back in March, Hard Rock was given approval to begin work on its first Catalan IR.