“So while we may be down we’re definitely doing all we can to cover as many shifts as we can.” “We’ve been very creative to adjust hours of operation and also utilize our part-time help to fill in for positions,” he said. The casino has seen an uptick in applications since it raised its wages and began offering sign-on bonuses this spring, but it’s still hard to find employees. Harrah’s hoped to hire 450-500 new positions associated with the expansion, but as of the ribbon-cutting 250 jobs were still open. Staffing, however, has been more of a challenge.

“We expect our occupancy level to continue to be very high,” he said. Despite the fact that the project was planned long before anybody had heard of COVID-19, booking numbers are on track with initial projections, he said. In an interview after the ceremony, Robinson said there were nearly 50,000 hotel room bookings for the next two fiscal years associated with the new hotel, as well as another 50,000 “likely” bookings. “This just shows the demand for convention business but also for here in what I would say is one of the most beautiful places that God has ever created,” he said. “This is convention business - it’s an entirely different business altogether.”Įven before it was anywhere near completion, Sneed said, the convention center had been booking events and hotel rooms for years in the future. “When we first talked about this project, there were a lot of naysayers actually, saying, well, this is just more gaming. This project is an opportunity to do that, he said. Throughout his time in office, Sneed has repeatedly emphasized the inevitable arrival of competition in the gaming industry and the resulting need to diversify the tribe’s revenue streams. In his remarks, Sneed made it clear that he sees the convention center as distinct from the casino’s current operations - it’s an entirely new business that will attract an entirely new clientele to Cherokee, he said. Joined by members of Tribal Council, Principal Chief Richard Sneed cuts the ribbon on the expansion. The center includes a 32,000-square-foot ballroom, as well as a pre-function ballroom, 26 meeting spaces and an exhibition hall, with a new 2,000-space parking deck directly adjacent to it. Located on the…Īdjacent to the hotel tower is the new three-story Cherokee Convention Center, featuring 83,000 square feet of meeting and convention space - more than tripling the current rentable convention space at Harrah’s Cherokee. Nestled within the Smokies is one of the country’s oldest tribal museums.

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