A survey of employees upon hire and after a three-month probationary period showed 95% appreciated the non-smoking workplace. Walters said Isleta Casino staff are happier too. Legislators on the Tobacco Settlement Revenue Oversight Committee said the casino’s positive outcomes could prove helpful in future debate over a smoking ban in the racinos the state regulates. “We did not see the complaints that were going out there historically.” “We saw our revenue going up, we saw our player count going up,” he said. Isleta Casino’s Chief HR Officer Charles Walters said his team saw the opposite. A fiscal analysis cited concern that patrons may choose a venue they could smoke in, resulting in a hit to revenue. “For us, it’s just easier to keep clean and it’s great.”Ī bill that would have banned smoking in the state’s racinos was tabled in this year’s legislative session.

We are not getting any complaints anymore about how they smell when they leave and how their hotel room smells,” Howard said. “It’s kind of become accepted in our environment,” she told the panel.Īnd the bad reviews the casino used to get about the stench have ceased too. Casino officials told an interim legislative committee Wednesday that they’ve decided to maintain the ban indefinitely and, despite fears to the contrary, the policy actually boosted its bottom line.ĬFO Diana Howard said there was some complaining among smokers about the new policy at first, “but now it is the new norm.” When Isleta Resort and Casino reopened after the COVID shutdown, it implemented a mask requirement that meant no longer allowing customers to smoke inside.

Isleta resort casino