Gambling fever, spurred largely by the advent of riverboats and other alternative gaming spots, triggered 3 million trips to casinos by Chicago-area residents last year, up from 2.5 million excursions in 1993, making the area the sixth-largest metropolitan market for the U.S. casino industry.
A survey conducted by Harrah’s Casinos showed that 30 percent of Chicago-area households visited a casino at least once in 1994. And Illinois as a whole was the No. 3 state generating casino visits, after California and New York and ahead of more populous Texas and Florida.
Nationwide, the fastest-growing segment of casino gambling comes from such new casino destinations as riverboats and Indian reservations, which last year raked in $6.5 billion, up from $500 million in 1990. Revenues from such traditional locations as Las Vegas and Atlantic City increased to $10 billion from $7.8 billion in the same period.
The opening of new casinos in the nation’s midsection has created shifts in the distribution of casino visits. In 1990, 73 percent of casino visits were in the Northeast or West; last year, that figure was down to 47 percent, with 53 percent of casino trips generated in the Midwest and South.
Total casino revenues were $16.5 billion last year, up from $8.3 billion in 1990.
