What Happened to Gambling in Las Vegas?

You can gamble legally almost anywhere these days.

To stay one step ahead of the trend, Las Vegas knew it needed to diversity...into...

• major conventions.
• fabulous restaurants.
  
• luxury AND outlet shopping.
• entertainment spectacles.
• world-class art galleries.
  

Slade magazine has a good article on this strategy: Leaving Las Vegas (Oct 2007).

According to stats from Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority (LCVCA), visitors in 2008 came to Las Vegas for...

• 39% vacation / pleasure
• 11% friends / relatives
• 13% gamble
• 12% convention / corporate meeting
• _9% other business
• _3% wedding
• _6% passing through
• _4% special event
• _1% casino tournament
• _2% other

 Also in 2008, Las Vegas hosted almost 37.5 million visitors, a drop of 4.4% from 39.1 million in 2007.

Room occupancy dropped to 86% of 140,529 available hotel/motel rooms. In 2007, travelers filled 90.4% of 132,947 available hotel/motel rooms.

Gaming revenue citywide and on The Strip was down about 10% from 2007.

So the economic downturn has definitely taken a toll on the city's travel & convention business.

For visitors in 2009 this means Great Deals & Discounts.