Fernwood Hotel and Resort Casino Will Produce the Most Revenue, Jobs and Taxes for Pennsylvania

BUSHKILL, Pa., Dec. 7, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Fernwood Hotel and Resort in the Pocono Mountains recently appeared before the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to present its case for a Category 3 Resort Gaming License. Spokesperson for Fernwood Hotel and Resort, Gina Bertucci, said, "With the expertise of our operator Penn National Gaming, we will deliver the most gaming and tax revenue to the Commonwealth. We already have significant resort amenities, have continuously operated for over 80 years, and have the most rooms and annual visitors which makes us the most suitable of any applicant." She continues, "We believe we demonstrated why we should get the license supported by the fact that we will open quickly with the most revenue from out of state guests." Fernwood's easternmost Pennsylvania location puts the resort closest to the largest population of adult gamers in the country.

Bertucci said, "We are fortunate to have Penn National Gaming as our managers. They are funding the $55 million dollar project and will operate the resort casino. Penn National prepared the revenue projections using their vast experience in gaming which includes owning and operating Hollywood Casino at Penn National Raceway in Grantville, PA - one of Pennsylvania's most successful gaming locations."

Penn National Gaming owns, operates or has ownership interests in gaming and racing facilities with a focus on slot machine entertainment. The Company presently operates twenty-three facilities in sixteen jurisdictions. In aggregate, Penn National's operated facilities feature over 27,800 gaming machines, over 500 table games, over 2,000 hotel rooms and over one million square feet of gaming floor space.

At the November Hearings, each of the other applicants who presented their case had problems such as not enough guest rooms, financial difficulties, overwhelming community objection, no amenities, desolate locations with small nearby populations, and no availability to access a diverse workforce. Fernwood Hotel and Resort was able to show that its market of 28 million people in New York and New Jersey, when compared to the number of slot machines in the same market, gives it the lowest number of machines per person in the geographic market from which customers will originate. This means Fernwood will create the least competition of any applicant to existing Pennsylvania casinos.

Gaming Control Board Chairman Gregory Fajt indicated selection would be made at either their December 16 or January 6 meeting. Bertucci concludes, "We think the facts dictate - put the machines where the people are and in a region of Pennsylvania where tourism will grow the economy, reduce unemployment and generate the greatest benefit for the citizens of the Commonwealth."

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SOURCE Fernwood Hotel and Resort