Las Vegas NowTravel Numbers See Steep Decline
With thousands of hotel rooms to fill, Las Vegas depends on the millions of people flowing through McCarran Airport each year to keep our economy pumping. But for the second month in a row, McCarran reported a huge drop in the number of people coming to town.
It was a drop of about 13-percent, which is about 500,000 fewer people this October compared with last October. That drop means a lot less money in the pockets of the city's biggest industry.
Travel can be one of the first things to go for people as they trim their budgets and over the last year, as the U.S. slipped into a recession, McCarran has seen fewer people coming throughout their gates.
"It is really quiet. It was the first thing I noticed when I walked into baggage claim. I said, ‘Geeze. It's like a ghost town,'" said Mike Duman.
Even as low prices and great deals beacon from the strip, people are still wary of spending money on trips. Even those who made it to town admit the decision didn't come easy.
"The economy is real tough. I am in the car business and to be honest with you, if we hadn't planned this trip three or four months ago, I'm not really sure I would be here with the car business being like it is," said Duman.
For one couple, it took the joining of business and pleasure to make the trip possible. Even then they're counting on good deals on dinning and shows to really make the trip fun.
"The prices are coming down a little bit. Like I know from back toward the first of the year they were a little higher than they are now," said Tommy Bowling.
Deals or not, this group of women say they weren't going to be held back from this trip. For them, Las Vegas was a much needed vacation.
"We have been planning this for about six or seven months, so we are ready for it," said Lori Quain.
For them, the smaller crowds are just icing on their party cake, "This is a lot better. I can handle this."
However, airport officials warn if you like the slower pace, enjoy it now because things will turn around.
"People like to travel here and when that consumer confidence returns, we believe that this will be one of the first areas to pick back up and start to see people coming through the city again," said McCarran spokesman Chris Jones.
Even with the lower head count, McCarran still had over 3.5 million people come through the airport during October and they are still one of the busiest airports in the country.
