Apr 30, 2008
There's no longer any doubt about the fact that traffic to Las Vegas has slumped
If you ever needed proof that the United States was approaching a recession, you have only to look at the traffic to Las Vegas. For the first time since September 11, arriving passengers there have fallen off -- and their numbers have been reduced for no fewer than the past five months.
These are official figures of McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. They show a 2.5% drop-off in November, a 3.2% decline in December, 2.8% in January, and 1.7% in March. While traffic slightly improved in February, that was only because of an extra day resulting from Leap Year. The March figure was worse still because the largest convention in the United States took place in Las Vegas for five days in that month -- and yet total monthly traffic fell nevertheless.
The situation was foretold by the fact that the MGM hotels in Vegas have recently laid off hundreds of their workers. When my daughter Pauline first learned of those firings, she invited a Las Vegas expert to appear on our Sunday radio program to discuss whether a slump was taking place. Following the party line, he of course denied anything negative was happening, but the airport statistics now prove a slow-down to be the case.
So why should we be discussing this? Only because you may be among those dreaming of a Vegas vacation. There will obviously be big hotel discounts in the weeks to come, and similar reductions in the price of air-and-land packages to Sin City. Keep watching www.vegas.com, or www.lasvegasadvisor.com for the latest bargains.
Write and read comments about this post.
These are official figures of McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. They show a 2.5% drop-off in November, a 3.2% decline in December, 2.8% in January, and 1.7% in March. While traffic slightly improved in February, that was only because of an extra day resulting from Leap Year. The March figure was worse still because the largest convention in the United States took place in Las Vegas for five days in that month -- and yet total monthly traffic fell nevertheless.
The situation was foretold by the fact that the MGM hotels in Vegas have recently laid off hundreds of their workers. When my daughter Pauline first learned of those firings, she invited a Las Vegas expert to appear on our Sunday radio program to discuss whether a slump was taking place. Following the party line, he of course denied anything negative was happening, but the airport statistics now prove a slow-down to be the case.
So why should we be discussing this? Only because you may be among those dreaming of a Vegas vacation. There will obviously be big hotel discounts in the weeks to come, and similar reductions in the price of air-and-land packages to Sin City. Keep watching www.vegas.com, or www.lasvegasadvisor.com for the latest bargains.
Write and read comments about this post.
Fifty years ago, 
Arthur Frommer is generally acknowledged to be the nation's foremost travel authority. He is the founder of the
