Casino sees slight increase in visitors

The number of people visiting Isle Casino Cape Girardeau rose slightly from May to June, but the people who visited stayed a shorter time.

According to a monthly Missouri Gaming Commission report released last week, 72,525 people visited the casino in June, up from 71,739 in May. Admissions, which tracks the number of visitors in two-hour increments, were down about 10,000, from 164,884 in May to 154,501 in June. A person could be counted more than once under admissions if that person stayed more than two hours.

Attendance at the casino, which opened at the end of October, peaked at 123,000 in March, but dropped off to about 82,000 in April.

Isle of Capri, the casino's parent company, paid the state $309,002 in admission fees, and $947,588 in gaming tax. June was the first full month the gaming tax fell below $1 million.

Ten percent of state gaming taxes and half of admission fees go to the Cape Girardeau city government, totaling about $249,260 for June. May revenue for the city was about $269,442.

Admission fees were down at every casino in Missouri from May to June, and gaming tax increased at only one of the state's 13 facilities.

Pertinent address:

777 N. Main St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.