Vegas Tourism Hot Hot Hot!!!

Hmmmmmm... this article confuses me???

http://www.reviewjournal.com/business/tourism/vegas-tourism-hot-hot-hot-visitation-rises-third-straight-month

To read the posts from many the so called "experts" here on VMB, Las Vegas should be planning it's funeral... what with fewer comps, poor gaming rules, rip-off cab drivers, etc.

Yet, the numbers don't seem to be telling the same story.

GO VEGAS!!!

 

Don't forget EDM and bottle service. The iceberg to H.M.S. Vegasnic!!

 

Yeah Vegas seems to be doing great! Yay!

 

Haha, yeah but its the same people that are whining about the resort fees, how expensive the restaurants has become, and that they have to pay to much for a hotel room. Some people are not willing to spend any money still they don't understand that Vegas has little to gain by offering these people comped stuff.

 

the higher room rates and occupancy bode well!

I know on my upcoming trip the room rates are thru the roof. I priced out the value of the comp rooms just for shits & giggles and 5 nights caesars was $3,005 and 3 nights Bellagio was around $1,200.

while I'd like to see better rates and offers, I also am enjoying the new options improved visitor numbers are allowing.

 

Outstanding news and the start to what I hope is an outstanding year.

I'm looking forward to spending this weekend in LV.

Bill

 

It's good for Vegas workers and properties business continues to improve, and it's significantly improved from the lows of 2009-2010, but business is substantially down from pre recession 2007 numbers and trends need to play out longer than the average Kardashian marriage to be meaningful.

It's pretty hard to lose money when your margins approach 40%, but you can when debt levels reach the level incurred by the Strip Duopoly. The "Big Two" will need to continue to sell assets in order to lower their debt and interest payments before they can start to earn a profit.

I still enjoy going to Vegas, though I'm not able to go 5-6 times a year like I had when Vegas was desperate. I'm enjoying my once a year trips, but I am more selective when it comes to the type and amount gambled, and happy to receive the comps that I get for playing within my BJ/VP comfort zone. Some of the improvements, including downtown, I really enjoy. I don't believe the way to improve gambling revenue (down $2.0B, $1.6B net since 2007) is to continue to worsen gaming conditions. You can churn people faster, but when people do not perceive value, they end up gambling less / returning less often.

Not sure it's wise to ever claim Vegas is headed for a funeral, unless they lose access to water. Hell, AC and Reno are alive and kicking, but both need a walker to shuffle from slot machine to slot machine.

[youtube]ljIQo1OHkTI[/youtube]

 

In Related News

What a March... 'cept in Reno

http://www.vegasinc.com/business/gaming/2014/apr/29/nevada-casino-revenue-jumps-76-percent-last-month/

 

Just to provide a little perspective :

 

Translated: Cutting marketing expense, increasing profit margin

AND customer demand is driving upward. Sounds like a pretty good business model!

 

While the comp model many of us recall so fondly may never return, this bump could have been caused in large part by the terrible winter experienced through much of the country. The place we visit in Florida was exceptionally crowded as well.

 

I started going to LV in 2008. I have been visiting at least 3x a year since. I have def noticed a change. Firstly the room rates have gone through the room. The elimination of bargains on the strip, cheap drinks etc. have dried up considerably. The crowds seem larger and larger. When I visit during what used to be considered "slow season" its not that bad anymore. Its fairly busy now compared to 08 and 09.

I have a lot of friends that contact me on facebook, text etc. asking me questions as they are first timers and want to take in Sin City.

Whatever LV is doing whether they are just riding the wave of a better economy or if they have made more attractive changes it is working.

As with anything that is gaining popularity there will always be negatives that come with. Long hauling, price gouging in all forms just comes with the territory unfortunately.

Who knows if it will push folks off or not. We have decided this year to only do 2 trips to LV. We replaced what is typically a "Vegas" trip with a Jamaica all inclusive. The price jump on rooms, airfare and the gouging in LV has got to me a bit.

 

You have it backwards. Fewer comps is a product of Vegas' success. They don't HAVE to offer as many comps to lure people to Vegas. They can create worse gaming rules. Because people will come either way.

If Vegas had another 2008/2009 slide, comps would go back up.

 

We were in Vegas for the last two weeks of March and first two in April. When we were on the strip and downtown it didn't seem that busy. The two times we went to the airport it was dead so I didn't expect tourism to be up that much. We did see continued signs of recovery all over non tourist Vegas. Long vacant strip malls being filled, new construction and busy local joints and restaurants.

I'm glad to see these numbers, if it continues it should drive down unemployment some. Still room for more people to visit and more rooms coming online in the next few years. Just need more water.

TomTWI

 

I like those pictures in the article, everyone is wearing sunglasses. In one picture a lady on the street is even selling them, in case you need an emergency pair. I wonder what aliens would think if they saw that. Would they assume our eyes never evolved to handle the daylight provided by our own sun?

 

Actually, I agree with you... in a snide way, my post was calling out some of our regular "doomsdayers" around here who always seem to forecasting the demise of Las Vegas for those and other reasons.

Viva Las Vegas is correct to point out that the overall health of these corporations is still fragile at best, but I'm not looking at this as a stock buying opportunity and I suspect neither are most patrons. I'm simply pointing out that the people are back. Nevada was hit harder than most any state in the nation by this past recession and we'll take this good news and celebrate it. It's a "snapshot" to be sure... and just a short-term trend, no doubt... but when you've been through what we went through, you cheer when you can.

 

I did my first two trips in the late '80s, then siestaed until the late '90s, when it became a 10-plus-year obsession in which I wrote three books on the joint, who knows how many articles, and just generally, well, obsessed about the place.

From a tourism perspective, the only thing I read into the numbers are people, people still flocking to Vegas. There's plenty of anecdotal "evidence" for nonexistent trends that we see or want to see during our respective visits, but even when Vegas was off, it was on in a way most every other tourist-needing economy and destination would sorely liked to have experienced.

What I recall over that span is change. Change change change. The '80s memories aren't too vivid. What I recall from those first visits a decade later was a very cheesy kitschy Vegas; a submarine sticking out of a shopping mall selling the bad turista theme fare, for instance. Well, the latter has not changed, I guess. But a submarine?

This Vegas is way more polished. Faux polish in many cases, not a cool-oozy-bueno polish of a Desert Inn. It is way more cookie-cutter in approach, along the Strip and I'd say out in the 'burbs where the "locals" model has become way more corporate. I'd say downtown has gone the wrong direction.

But you know what, the lights are still on and they are going to stay on. It might not be to some of our tastes, it might force some to rethink, but that's kinda life and travel in general.

 

Individual hotels are always going to fold

But not the whole town. You'll get bad management decisions like poor marketing to the wrong group or just having a bad theme or location that doesnt catch on. Some places just get old and run-down . We dont get the free room offers we got during the recession,either in LV or AC . I dont have to stay over in AC(usually saves us money) or go to LV as often either. So who really loses on this deal ,us or them?

 

No doubt it's good for the state and Clark County in particular as a whole and great for people in the service industry who will get more hours/shifts and more tips. I hope Vegas is able to grow back on a sustained level, perhaps even approaching their prior peak at some point, but also hope casinos and staff don't take the good times for granted (as they did in 05-07). Costs will go up, but people can and will adapt (switch from weekend to weekday or from peak/holiday stays to off-peak).

If I didn't like Vegas, I wouldn't visit or post about it. I like to enjoy the quality changes which have taken place (especially downtown w/ Fremont East, the Hotel/Casino renovations) and Strip (Cosmopolitan, I think SLS and Cromwell will work out and I'm looking forward to visiting these two plus Genting's Echelon replacement down the road).

There are a few changes I don't like (namely declining gaming), but I have adapted by decreasing BJ play and have shifted to live poker and full pay VP throughout the valley. I had to maneuver from my standard 1990s-mid 2000s spot on the North Strip (Stardust/Desert Inn), but I've always found a spot or seven to stay and play on the Strip, Downtown and in the Valley. It helps to be flexible, and enjoy casinos ranging from Orleans or California to Cosmopolitan or Aria, South Point or Red Rock, Tropicana or LVH and many points in between (places I've stayed or will stay in June, mostly comped).

I agree most people could care less of the financial condition of casino operators, but they have felt the consequences with lowered service, more fees and decreased gaming odds/value to keep cash flow positive as casinos pay debt service for acquisitions of other casinos (no value to the visitor), interest on debt (no value) and new casinos / renovations (this does add value/enhance the Vegas experience).