May 9, 2008
More about the sharp decline in tourism to Las Vegas, and the resulting rise in discounts at all sorts of hotels, casinos, and restaurants
To get a current picture of the tourism situation in Las Vegas, you can go to my own favorite website on Sin City: Las Vegas Advisor (www.lasvegasadvisor.com). It's published by a friend (we sharply disagree about everything dealing with Vegas) named Anthony Curtis, who first came here as a professional gambler but then turned to travel journalism when nearly every casino barred him from playing at their tables (he won too consistently).
Las Vegas Advisor is mainly known for its current listing of bargains on its main menu page (left-hand column, down a bit) called "Today's Hot Deals," in which it describes hotel offers from $33 a room and up, and air-and-land packages costing as little as $283. But my favorite feature is its blog by Jean Scott called Frugal Vegas in which she currently draws attention to the wholesale price-cutting by Vegas casinos in the face of declining business:
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Las Vegas Advisor is mainly known for its current listing of bargains on its main menu page (left-hand column, down a bit) called "Today's Hot Deals," in which it describes hotel offers from $33 a room and up, and air-and-land packages costing as little as $283. But my favorite feature is its blog by Jean Scott called Frugal Vegas in which she currently draws attention to the wholesale price-cutting by Vegas casinos in the face of declining business:
Hotel prices are coming down all over the place, even at the top resorts. We recently received an e-mail room offer from the Palms for $49, including free admission to the Ghost Bar or Rain, 20% off spa services, and $25 in free slot play. True, it was for a few specific dates, but it is an example of how players who search diligently can find all sorts of bargains, not just on rooms but on food and shows.Unhappily, Ms. Scott also points out that the financially troubled casinos are cutting back on their food quality and the copious servings of their buffets, citing a report she recently received from a reader:
The cutbacks that I am seeing just in the past year are astounding. I live next door to a guy who is a manager at U. S. Foods, which delivers virtually everything casinos use in their food and beverage departments. They are the primary vendor to 70% of the hotels here in Las Vegas. He says their business is down 20%. First, the cuts came from the small bars and taverns that closed their kitchens due to the smoking ordinance. Then, the vast majority of taverns that still serve food have seen their business shrink to a fraction of what they had been doing.It's a buyer's market out there, and an opportunity for crazed gambling addicts to cut the hotel-and-meal costs of their visits to this mindless place.
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Fifty years ago, 
Arthur Frommer is generally acknowledged to be the nation's foremost travel authority. He is the founder of the
