Las Vegas NowCasinos Offering Great Strip Deals
The latest visitor numbers are out. August visitor volume was down almost 4.5-percent from last year, the sixth straight month of declines. As Strip casinos enter the slow season, they're having to work harder to entice visitors.
Not only are less people coming to visit the Strip, but those who are coming are spending less. Economic worries are now international and everyone is watching their spending, even in the city know for excess.
Busy Strip sidewalks and casino floors filled with the sounds of players - it's the Vegas seen slowly disappearing over the past few months.
"It is definitely the toughest time we have ever seen," said David Norton with Harrah's
Combating the slowing tourism, Harrah's Hotels and Casino's are tapping their rewards members and offering deals to get them in the door, "Over time, this has helped us fill the rooms here in Las Vegas better then our competitors. We have these 10 million active customers across the country. We can invite them to Vegas and they respond to our offers."
But the problem is not just getting them here, it is also getting them to open their wallets. Many tourists admit they are budgeting their trips little more this year.
"Last year, we were here, we spent way more money -- probably twice as much. Just dinner and stuff like that," said Graham Storey.
For many, their tips now mean less expensive dinners out, less cab rides and less overall, "Not gambling as much, kind of not tipping as much, not to sound cheap, but everything is a little less just a little more conscious."
Aggressive room and package deals among the hotels are pushing prices lower. But many companies say, while this is the worst it has been in a long time, the town will weather this storm. Because, in the end, it's still Vegas.
"They are spending a little less than we've seen typically, but clearly people want to get to Vegas," said Norton.
Many Strip hotels are also tapping in to the international market, offering prices that equal a great deal with the current exchange rate.
