How modern technology is helping the casino and gaming industry navigate what comes next

It should have been a normal weekend like any other: tens of thousands of people crowding The Strip, eager to be transported by live shows, escaping the daily routine of nine-to-five as they succumb to their instincts. Las Vegas has always been a weekend escape for those who want to indulge—but there was no place for Vegas to escape to when people stopped coming. In 2019, the gaming industry reached an all-time high of $44 billion in annual revenue. But when the lockdown order took effect, it plummeted to $30 billion, its lowest revenue in years.

Now that business is booming again despite the unpredictable nature of the pandemic, gaming companies have found ways to increase local tourism and online gaming with help from modern technology. These two new revenue streams will continue to add growth post-pandemic.

Challenges for the next few years

As travel begins to recover, gaming companies are faced with many challenges to meet and generate demand:  

• Gambling isn’t as common among millennials because they are prioritizing other outlets with their money and time.
• Consumer behavior has shifted towards digitized experiences as opposed to face-to-face interactions.
• As the gaming industry leans more heavily into the online sector, enhancing data security and scalability is more crucial than ever.
• Casinos struggle to keep up with the increased demand of convenient online gambling alternatives, such as e-sports and video games.
• Casinos are in a constant balancing act to drive the same pre-COVID numbers of tourism while still ensuring a safe environment for guests.

Leveraging technology to increase local tourism and online gaming

With steep challenges lie tremendous opportunities, and modern technology is the key. The resurgence of local tourism and the pursuit of online gaming have led to innovative efforts to grow non-traditional gaming revenues. COVID has accelerated casinos’ adoption of mobile solutions to bring contactless interactions to every part of their customer-facing services. These capabilities include touchless check-in, online food and beverage ordering, contactless payments, and cashless gambling.

Casinos are starting to actively leverage their databases. They’re turning to big data and analytics to get a better read on customer preferences, using these insights to tailor incentives, offers, and promotions to each guest. To succeed at attracting local tourism, it’s critical for casinos to incorporate data-mining capabilities into their marketing platforms to stay competitive in the evolving industry.

Moreover, there has been a rise in online gaming as digital technologies continue to penetrate and expand the market revenue potential for gaming channels. Experts predict that by 2027, the global online gaming market size will reach $127 billion, which is three times the market size today. With the predicted growing market, security and scalability are paramount. Casinos have the huge responsibility of preventing security breaches. They need to protect their user data since players share their payment details for online bets and bank account information for casino-based winnings and balances owed. Casinos must heavily rely on cloud technology solutions that carry both powerful analytics and security to address this concern. It’s also important for the proper technical infrastructure to be set up effectively and efficiently to support the increased volume of customers.

Why more than 75 percent of the Las Vegas Strip bets on Oracle Cloud ERP

If you’re curious to learn more about integrating modern technology into the gaming industry, then you’re in luck. Oracle has helped more than 75 percent of companies on the Las Vegas Strip embrace continuous innovation with Oracle Cloud ERP. MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment, among others, rely on our cloud solution to improve their operations and support their fast-changing business needs. Because of this, they’ve been able to venture into new revenue streams and stay a step ahead of the competition.

Visit our casino and gaming industry page to learn more.