• by Karl Greenberg , July 10, 2009

Two of the biggest casinos in the world are making an unlikely liaison to boost tourism to southeastern Connecticut, where Foxwoods Resort and rival Mohegan Sun are located.

In a move to get people to eschew New Jersey's Atlantic City, the two behemoths of gambling -- one of which brings in some 14 million visitors a year and has 2,225 hotel rooms that are pretty much always booked -- are for the first time in their respective histories launching an outdoor and digital campaign to tout the area as a major resort and entertainment destination.

Rob Victoria, SVP of consumer marketing at Foxwoods, says the effort will include billboards in New Jersey and the New York metro area.

"We are working together because we think we can drive more business to the region by letting the public know we have two incredible scenic resorts, both of which are all-inclusive destinations." He says the effort, with a "Two Worlds Beats One City" that takes a jab at Atlantic City, drives consumers to www.playCTcasinos.com.

Victoria says the initial effort is something of a test to see if competing properties can both benefit from a unified effort, à la the Las Vegas Visitor and Conventions campaigns.

"You know, Foxwoods and Mohegan are fierce rivals who have gone toe to toe for 16 years now," he says. "But the idea is to bring people to [to the region] and let them pick a resort when they get here. We will be able to measure the success of the campaign through web hits, which we will track over next three months.

He adds that, at the 11th hours, the two resorts brought in Connecticut tourism groups Mystic Coast and Country Travel Industry Association, a private sector group, and the Eastern Connecticut Chamber of Commerce to help.

"I will say, a small percentage of our client base comes from areas we are advertising," Victoria says. "For people in New York, it is equidistant to Atlantic City. We have a fair share of local market, but we think we could add to that share in north Jersey."

The Ledyard, Conn., Foxwoods and Uncasville, Conn., Mohegan Sun are the largest casinos in North America and, worldwide, are exceeded in size only by the Venetian in Macau, China. Victoria says Foxwoods has some 60 restaurants and a 4,500-seat arena. The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority's Mohegan Sun resort has a 10,000-seat arena that markets with Live Nation and brings in acts like Sting, Aerosmith, Van Halen, Howie Mandell and Jay Z.

Victoria says that in terms of the next move, "We have talked about a lot of things, but we will probably sit down at the end of August and talk about next steps."