Tribal casinos agree smoking bans good for business

The number of non-smoking tribal casinos has increased from five to 150.

US.- Panelists at the National Indian Gaming Association’s “New Normal” webinar agreed that smoking bans were good for business.

Clinton Isham, a consultant who spoke at the webinar, notes that while only five tribal casinos were non-smoking before the coronavirus pandemic, now 150 out of 500 venues prohibit smoking.

All panelists agreed that the decisions to implement smoking bans had positively effected sites’ reputations and commercial activity.

The webinar was attended by various tribal gaming executives such as Mashantucket Pequot Tribal National chairman, Rodney Butler, and NIGA executive director Jason Giles.

Giles argued that it was increasingly difficult to find staff who were comfortable working in smoking environments due to concerns over passive smoking.

But he also expressed concern that smokers may stop visiting casinos if they unable to smoke inside. He said this would be the only incentive for casinos to reverse smoking bans.

Isham said that those who play in smoke-free areas statistically play for longer, and predicted that those who smoke will continue to come to casinos.

He said: “people don’t go to casinos to smoke cigarettes. They go there to gamble.”