Kootenai Tribe hopes to lure Canadian customers back to casino

Monday, June 27, 2016

The Kootenai Tribe flies the U.S. and Canadian flags at its Kootenai River Inn Casino and Spa in Bonners Ferry, Idaho. Photo from KRI

>
The Kootenai Tribe has installed dual-currency gaming machines at its casino in Idaho, The Coeur d'Alene Press reports.

The Kootenai River Inn Casino and Spa has long attracted customers from Canada. The facility in Bonners Ferry is only 27 miles south of the border with British Columbia.

But fluctuations in currency -- the Canadian dollar has fallen in value -- and other economic pressures have resulted in a significant drop in northern visitors in the last few years, the paper reported. The tribe hopes they will be lured back by the new machines, the only ones of their kind in the United States.

"There’s going to be a lot of tribes along the border who will take a look at this and see what opportunities they may have, too," general manager Tom Turpin told the paper.

Get the Story:
Tribe unveils only dual currency casino in U.S. (The Coeur d'Alene Press 6/26)

An Opinion:
A tribal wager toward self-sufficiency (The Coeur d'Alene Press 6/26)