Missouri’s Ameristar Casino Resort to Expand Convention Center

Missouri’s Ameristar Casino Resort to Expand Convention Center

A conference and meeting facility extension has been announced by the Ameristar Casino Resort Spa in St. Charles, eastern Missouri, which is close to the Illinois border.

The Ameristar St. Charles, which is owned and run by Boyd Gaming of Las Vegas, plans to add around 43,000 square feet to its event area, according to company representatives. The convention area of the riverboat resort will be 65,000 square feet when it is finished.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch was informed by Ameristar General Manager Doug Lang that the casino routinely declines convention business due to space constraints or limited availability.

"This is not a build it and they will come moment,” Lang said. “We look at the business we have today as well as the denials and regrets that we have from companies and groups that would like to come to St. Charles but can’t because we don’t have the space they need.”

According to Lang, the St. Charles-St. Louis region's lack of convention space has gotten worse during the previous five years. In the St. Louis metro region, there are four casinos: River City, Hollywood, Horseshoe, and Ameristar.

Effects That Trickle Down

A significant US metropolis in the middle of the country, St. Louis is situated close to where the Mississippi and Missouri rivers meet. Boyd executives feel that St. Louis ought to challenge Indianapolis, Chicago, and Nashville as a location for conventions of this magnitude, and should be even more so than it is now.

The operator of the casino believes that adding more convention space will draw larger events to St. Louis.

The city’s primary convention hall is The St. Louis Convention Center, dubbed America’s Center, with about 574,000 square feet of flexible exhibition space. The Family Arena’s 18,000 square feet is another frequented facility.

Boyd spokesperson David Strow says the Ameristar’s convention expansion will bring new events and attendees to Missouri’s second-most populated city. The influx of travelers, Strow says, will benefit the entire region, as well as the Ameristar’s casino competitors.

"If we can get more people to Ameristar for conventions, then that creates an entire ripple effect that benefits all of St. Charles,” he said.

The Ameristar St. Charles convention center expansion is part of Boyd's $100 million capital investment plan, which also involves the construction of a new casino at the location of the company's old Jokers Wild Casino in Henderson, Nevada. Strow did not disclose the cost of the project.

Convention Attendees Desired

Without the numerous conventions that fill the main resort hotels in the city during the week, Las Vegas would not be Las Vegas. Due of their tendency to spend more than leisure guests, convention attendees are in high demand.

Convention attendees in Las Vegas frequently spend more money than tourists who aren't attending a convention because their employers usually cover the cost of their lodging and many also get per diems.

According to the Las Vegas conference and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), conference attendees spend more on lodging, food and drink, and local transportation than non-convention attendees. Additionally, they wager, on average, $700. Guests who do not attend the convention wager more, over $800.

Not just Las Vegas, but also smaller casino markets like St. Louis/St. Charles depend heavily on convention business. The casino's risk on more conventions is probably a wise one given that Ameristar is ideally situated less than 10 miles from Lambert International, the main commercial airport serving St. Louis and the 34th busiest flight hub in the United States.