As a former Director of a Cruise Line, I remember all too well profiling tourists of each nationality through their habits, culture, customs and traditions, by looking at ways to facilitate such trends from a Revenue generation perspective.
For example, when it comes to Gambling at the Casino, I discovered how people typically played according to their nationality profile as follows...
- The French in general show a strong preference towards SLOT machines. They favor the same corner or perceived lucky machine and tend to play during similar time frames.
- Italians play card Games with EMOTION, whereby the environment (temperature, colors, music), people and Croupier(s) are critical to their playing patterns. In other words they need to feel comfortable and be seduced by the environment and/or sense of occasion. The Spanish and Portuguese are similar in this respect.
- German and British tend to play to a strict BUDGET. They will risk only what is Budgeted and if they win a reasonable sum of money they will more often than not have the discipline to keep it (Germans possess discipline when it comes to this).
- The Russians tend to play for POWER. Its not only a matter of winning, but showing your strength and power at the card table.
- The Americans play for FUN. They consider that Casino type Games are fun and that they buy fun. In fact they are the only nationality happy to lose! Las Vegas and later the Carnival cruise Ships were built on the Desire of fun.
- The Greeks, Cypriots and Turks play COMPULSIVELY. Once they get started, the compulsive nature takes over. They drive almost in the same way in Athens and Istanbul. The strange thing about Greeks and Turks, who often do not see eye to eye, when it comes to habits and even eating preferences they are quite similar in the grand scheme of things.
- The Chinese play almost ADDICTIVELY. The quality of the environment or even the service is not so critical. Playing is what matters and the habit is fast, furious and addictive. This is why recently Casino receipts in Macao overtook Las Vegas.
- On the other hand Israeli's play to WIN, more than any other nationality I encountered or experienced. Losing is never on the agenda! Due to the stressed nature of their play, Croupiers need to be turned around as much as twice as fast.
Of course there are exceptions to every nationality and the Casino team must always be flexible to adapt and cater for individuals.
Remember that 80% of the money earned in the Casino nearly always comes from 20% of the Gamblers, so the Smart Casino Managers are always able to spot who they are!
Grant Holmes
Revenue Generation Expert
