With a reliably busy summer season and then a slowdown, Ocean Casino Resort manufactured their own "second peak season" centered around the end of year holidays. Rebecca Thiry will walk through how Ocean City Resort transformed the holidays into a marquee demand driver — with a fully themed floor, Santa encounters, pop‑up bars, and bespoke products that captured media attention and social buzz—and turns that into a repeatable playbook for other properties. 

• Map your shoulder‑season opportunity and define a clear holiday concept that fits your brand, not just generic décor 
• Design an immersive experience stack—from themed floors and "meet Santa" touchpoints to pop‑up bars, entertainment, and movie nights—that's built for social sharing 
• Layer in themed F&B, retail, and bespoke products (like ocean‑inspired holiday sweaters) to boost per‑guest spend and give visitors a reason to return each year 
• Build your own "new peak season" playbook, including timelines, partners, promotion channels, and success metrics you can take back to your team 

• Using a paid membership model to reframe the loyalty conversation and demonstrating ROI to members  
• Emphasizing small, unexpected gestures (including ones for your dog) can build emotional brand loyalty that no points balance can replicate 
• Finding the sweet spot between technology and hospitality's most irreplaceable asset: genuine personal connection