If not, let me tell you what you need to know. You can click this image to see this month's report:
Unfortunately, even what looks like good news isn't so good. December was the fourth consecutive month of increased visitation over the same month in the prior year, but it also was a weaker increase -- 1.5 percent -- versus 4.3 percent in September, 3.7 percent in October and 2.7 percent in November. Also, the total number of room nights occupied actually fell 0.4 percent in December versus December 2008 after three straight months of increases.
Conclusion: The opening of CityCenter in December did little, if anything, to boost visitation. That may explain free-falling room rates at ARIA, too. Ut-oh. The January figures will tell the tale because if all that publicity and fanfare can't pique even short-term interest, MGM Mirage is in a massive vat of stinky trouble.
Meanwhile, the 2009 figures show Vegas saw 3 percent fewer visitors, finishing up at 36.5 million. That the lowest since 2003, when the city greeted 35.5 million. The big difference, however, is that today's Vegas has 148,941 hotel rooms, about 8,000 of which were added in 2009, whereas back in 2003 the city offered 130,482 rooms. So the 2003 figure represented an occupancy rate of 85 percent and the 2009 figures mean occupancy was at 81.5 percent. The average room rate on 2003 was $82.48; last year, it was $92.93.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority tried to put a happy spin on all this by noting that the 81.5 percent occupancy was "the highest of any major destination in the U.S." and 26.4 percentage points above the overall U.S. average. Which is like Florida getting excited that they grew more oranges than North Dakota this year.
I won't even get into the convention data. Much too depressing. Look at it for yourself if you like, preferably somewhere far away from a sharp knife.
