When profits increase, it generally indicates consumers value what they are purchasing - while declining profits indicate the opposite. As a result, pretty much every pit boss, slot manager and resort executive agree that clearing the air of tobacco smoke would be bad for business - cigarettes and profits being deeply intertwined within the industry.Īnd while it’s easy to assert that clean air should be more important than profits, it’s important to understand that profits are often the market mechanism through which businesses judge how well they are responding to consumer preferences. Indeed, there has long been an understanding in the industry that non-smoking visitors are more than willing to tolerate the kind of smoke-filled environments that keep nicotine addicts feeding dollar bills into slot machines.
There’s a reason casinos are among the last remaining venues to still allow smoking indoors: Consumers tolerate it.
