BUSINESS BRIEFS
Nevada gaming revenue down
Advertiser Staff and News Services
August casino gaming revenue for Nevada fell 4.4 percent to $1.02 billion, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
A year earlier casino licensees had reported gaming revenues of $1.06 billion. For the first two months of the state's fiscal year the gaming revenue has increased 2.4 percent, the gaming board said.
The August decline included 4.5 percent lower revenue at Las Vegas Strip properties. Downtown Las Vegas properties reported a 5.1 percent rise in revenue.
HOTEL ROOM REVENUE, OCCUPANCY UP
U.S. hotels' revenue per available room rose 12.1 percent in the week ended Oct. 6 from the same period a year earlier, according to Smith Travel Research.
The revenue figure, known as RevPAR, is based on average occupancy and room rates. It rose to $73.05 from $65.17.
Smith Travel also reported that hotels' occupancy increased to 67.1 percent from 66.4 percent a year earlier. The average daily room rate moved up 11 percent to $108.90 versus a year prior.
BIG APPLE LAUNCHES MARKETING DRIVE
New York City began a one-year, $30 million advertising campaign last week to attract tourists from around the world with the slogan, "This is New York City."
The city's first global marketing drive will use colorful images of family-focused activities to help boost visits 14 percent to 50 million by 2015.
Television ads feature colorful graphics integrated with video images of city attractions and a new version of Ella Fitzgerald's rendition of "Take the A Train."
The campaign will help attract visitors from other countries, who account for half of the city's tourism sales. A record 43.8 million people visited the city in 2006, creating and supporting more than 368,000 jobs and providing $1.94 billion in tax revenue.
CARNIVAL ORDERS NEW LUXURY LINER
Carnival Corp., the world's biggest cruise operator, ordered a new Queen Elizabeth ship after selling the iconic Queen Elizabeth 2 to the Dubai government.
The luxury Cunard line will begin taking travelers on the 2,092-passenger vessel in 2010, Miami-based Carnival said last week in a statement. Cunard also operates the Queen Mary 2 and will introduce the Queen Victoria in December. The new Queen Elizabeth, at 92,000 tons, will be built by Fincantieri SpA, the Italian state-owned company making the Queen Victoria.
Carnival sold the QE2 in June to the Dubai government, which plans to keep the 40-year-old ship in port and convert it into a hotel and museum. The Queen Elizabeth will restore Cunard to a three-ship fleet after the QE2's departure.
ATLANTIC CITY LOSSES CONTINUE
The Atlantic City casinos continued on a downward track in September, taking in 10.6 percent less from gamblers than they did last September, the state Casino Control Commission reported.
Industry experts blame the revenue slide on slot parlors that recently opened in Pennsylvania and Delaware, and a partial smoking ban in the 11 Atlantic City casinos.
The casinos won $419.3 million in September, compared to $468.8 million in September 2006. They took in $300.7 million from slot machines, a 12.6 percent decline, and $118.6 million at table games, a decrease of 5 percent.
The "win" figure is the amount of money kept by casinos after paying bets. It is not profit.
