Analysts say Las Vegas' resiliency shows as tourism decline narrows
By Lisa Snedeker
Associated Press
LAS VEGAS — Despite a continuing six-month trend of fewer visitors on the Las Vegas Strip, Wall Street analysts are encouraged by newly released figures for January that mark the city's narrowest decline in tourism since Sept. 11.
Advertiser library photo • Feb. 7, 2002
The trend is "clearly showing the continued rebound in the Las Vegas market," said Wall Street gambling analyst Jason Ader of Bear Stearns Co. in New York.
Passengers in Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport can play slot machines near the luggage carousels and throughout the airport. Las Vegas officials report recovery in tourism losses since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Visitor volume was off nearly 5 percent to 2.67 million visitors in January compared with January 2001, according to Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority statistics.
Figures show the visitor decline — as it has in Hawai'i — has been leveling since the terrorist attacks.
"The resiliency of Las Vegas is historic and so far, it seems to be resilient again," said Kevin Bagger, the authority's senior researcher.
An estimated 15,000 Strip workers were laid off after the attacks because of the dramatic drop in tourism.
In September, visitor numbers were down 14 percent compared with the previous year. Visitors were down about 8 percent in October and November. In December, visitor counts were down 6 percent.
Bagger attributed the slowing visitor decline to a general travel and economic turnaround since the terrorist attacks and to aggressive marketing.
Occupancy rates for the city's 126,667 hotel rooms were down nearly 5 percent to about 75 percent overall in January compared with the previous year.
The empty rooms were linked to a nearly 10 percent decline in air travel through McCarran International Airport in January. McCarran brings in about 46 percent of Las Vegas' tourists each year.
"The decline in air travel is being partially offset by an increase in auto traffic, which is up 11.4 percent," Bagger said. "It mirrors what's going on in many parts of the United States where people are driving versus flying."
Spending patterns of Las Vegas visitors continued to fluctuate in January, Bagger added.
Las Vegas gambling revenues also were off in January by nearly 20 percent, and convention attendance was down nearly 6 percent with a corresponding 5 percent decline in economic impact.
