Tourism in the Rock River Valley can and does provide many significant forms of human activity and it can have many more major impacts with an Urban Casino as an entertainment venue in downtown Rockford. These impacts are very visible where tourists interact with the local environment, economy, community culture and social venues. This activity takes place when folks take part in activities such as dining, shopping, entertainment as well as outdoor/indoor sports activity. The Rock River West Casino Group advocating for an urban casino considers the impacts of tourism under the headings of socio-cultural, economic and environmental impacts.
Casino gambling which is new to the Rockford community belongs as a segment of the tourism industry. According to a recent report by the Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau (RACVB), “The economic impact of tourism has grown rapidly in recent years, and the recent and coming investments in the community – including a new downtown hotel and conference center and a future casino gaming complex in Rockford – will fuel additional impact.” All of the key components are pre-existing in the downtown infrastructure.
These economic impacts of casino gambling can definitively be applied to the economic impacts of tourism in the downtown Rockford as well as the larger footprint of the Rock River Valley as a whole, which include Arts, Cultural Institutions and Entertainment Venues.
Opening an urban casino gambling establishment can bring large tax revenues for our government is undoubtedly the best economic benefit that the gaming entertainment industry can contribute (Anderson, 2005, Gu and Li, 2009). Kang et al. (2008) suggested that casino gambling could foster local economic developments and bring more beneficial opportunities to commercial activities. Furthermore, some researchers have demonstrated that casino gambling operations generally provide substantial economic benefits through increased employment opportunity (Long, 1996, Pizam and Pokela, 1985). McLain and Maheshwari (2006),
(Source: Klebanow, Andrew M., Casinos and the City: A White Paper on the History of Casino Development in Cities, Past and Current Trends, and Recommendations for Future Development, Global Market Advisors LLC)
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