Half of U.S. Adults say they are unlikely to visit a Casino in the next year.

Among those who have gone to a casino in the past year, half have traveled over 100 miles

As casinos continue to invest money into their facilities, a new survey shows that in the past 12 months, over half (59%) of U.S. adults say they have not visited a casino, while half (51%) say they are not at all likely to visit a casino in the next 12 months. Perhaps this is because people say they look for an entertainment experience, and not just gambling. Among the those who say they are at least somewhat likely to visit a casino in the next 12 month (49%), three-quarters of them are planning on going to their restaurants, 40 percent are planning on attending an entertainment activity/show and 35 percent are planning on shopping, compared to 69 percent who are planning to play slot machines (including video poker), 27 percent who are planning to play table games and 13 percent who are planning to participate in other gaming activities.

Further evidence that people are looking more for an entertainment experience is found in the low level of participation in Loyalty/Players Club card programs. While four in 10 (41%) adults have been to a casino in the past 12 months, only one in four (24%) adults participates in Loyalty/Players Club Card program.

These are the results of a nationwide Harris Poll of 1,172 U.S. adults surveyed online by Harris Interactive between June 7 and 13, 2006.

Many will go the distance to visit casinos

Of U.S. adults who have visited a casino in the past 12 months, 42 percent made only one trip, while almost half (47%) have made two or more trips in the last 12 months. Developers of new casinos may bear in mind that people are also willing to travel to these destinations. Among those who have visited a casino in the past year, over half (54%) have traveled 100 miles or more to get there, while less than one-quarter (22%) of casino visitors have traveled less that 25 miles and 23 percent traveled between 25 and 99 miles.

“Casino/Resorts have found a way to enrich the value of experiences they offer visitors, and in the process they are capturing a larger ‘share of wallet’ of entertainment spend,” according to Jim Quilty, Vice President of Travel and Tourism Research at Harris Interactive.

Some other findings include:

Those in the West are the most likely to have visited a casino in the past 12 months (52%) and over half (55%) are likely to visit a casino in the next 12 months. Perhaps this indicates the draw of Las Vegas! Southerners are the least likely to say they have visited a casino in the past 12 months (31%), while 36 percent of adults in the East, and 47 percent of adults in the Midwest have visited a casino in the past 12 months.

Among those who have visited a casino in the past 12 months, Southerners travel the farthest – slightly over two-thirds (68%) traveled over 100 miles when they visited a casino, while over half of Easterners and those who live in the West (58% and 57%, respectively) traveled over 100 miles. The Midwesterners have it easy – among those who have gone to a casino in the past 12 months, only one-third (34%) had to travel over 100 miles while 39 percent traveled under 25 miles.

Among those who have visited a casino in the past 12 months, Generation Xers (ages 30-41) are the gamblers. Only four percent of them had visited a casino and not gambled, as compared to 14 percent of the other generations who had visited a casino. On the other side, 10 percent of Gen Xers and Baby Boomers (ages 42-60) said they had gambled 10 times or more as compared to eight percent of Matures (ages 65 and over) who said that and compared to only four percent of Echo Boomers (ages 18-29) who had visited a casino in the past 12 months..

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