While Las Vegas tourism has declined, the tribal-owned Avi Resort & Casino near Laughlin, Nev., is studying whether to build a new resort at the site or expand as it separately constructs a new casino in the Mohave Valley in northwest Arizona.
Casino President Richard Cook, going before the Nevada Gaming Commission Dec. 18 for licensure as an officer because of his promotion from general manager, told the Gaming Control Board that the casino continues to do well despite a softer summer.
“One thing that we experienced a little differently from some of the properties (on the Las Vegas Strip) was that our occupancy was up, but with value customers,” Cook said. “We weren’t able to drive the room rate we had the last couple of years. A lot more families are bringing in their own ice chests and that type of stuff. We’re seeing gaming dip a little bit, but overall, the property is doing really well.”
The Avi is owned by the Fort Mojave Tribe, which held had a groundbreaking last week for its under-construction Spirit Mountain Casino. The tribe is closing down its aging casino on that Arizona site. The new venue will have 350 slot machines, but no hotel.
Cook, who’s been at the Avi for 12 years, said the property is up four times in adjusted earnings since he started there in January 2014. He’s looking to hire a general manager to replace himself.
The Avi opened in 1995 near the California and Arizona borders and has 465 rooms and a 25,000 square-foot casino.
Cook said the tribe continues to invest money in the property and requested last week that he seek out a feasibility study to build another casino or expand the current facility.
“We only have 452 rooms now with limited convention space, but there are times if we had twice the number of hotel rooms we could do a lot more things, especially with all our space and land. There’s no resort fees.”
The Avi has 705 slot machines, fewer than it had prior to the pandemic. The plan is to get it back up to 750 to 800 machines, Cook said. “That’s probably best for us. On a really busy day, we will run 75% occupancy on the floor, so there are some times we can use more.”
The property has five live table games and some electronic games.
The Avi attracts snowbirds from Canada during the winter, with the average age close to 70, Cook said. During the spring and summer, it’s families and boaters. “It’s two totally different markets.”
The area between Laughlin and Needles, Arizona, has about 100,000 people, Cook said. The casino is 12 miles from Laughlin.
“The great thing about the Avi and where it’s located is that if you’re on the strip of Laughlin, you get a lot of walk-in traffic,” Cook said. “For us, we’re 12 miles away and our amenities we have are like none of the other casinos. Our length of stay is that people use it more as a resort. We have a golf course across the street and a daily campground and our own beach and boat ramp – a lot of things people can come and stay for a week in the summer months. In Laughlin, it’s more hotels, gaming, and restaurants.”
