October’s revenue figures for Nevada emerged today and it was a good month statewide ($961 million, +8%) and a great one for the Las Vegas Strip ($560.5 million, +13%). Mind you, October 1 was a Saturday, meaning that some Sept. 30 slot revenues may have been rolled into the next month’s tally — per Nevada’s unique method of reporting — making fluctuations appear more volatile than they really were. Booming baccarat play and strong hold — as you probably guessed already — drove the Strip numbers, which included $159 million in baccarat win. Poker aside, table revenues were up 21% (a slightly less impressive +9% when baccarat is backed out). Bigger slot play and higher hold both propelled the one-armed bandits, up 5% year/year.
With the help of a remade Plaza Hotel, the Downtown market enjoyed an 8% bounce, while some of the most encouraging auguries were once the performance of casinos in North Las Vegas and the Boulder Strip. Coming off a bad September (mind what I said about volatility earlier), those markets were up 15% and 14%, respectively. Drive-in traffic was slow, so to speak, and outlying markets suffered from it. Laughlin was off 3%, Reno an alarming 12%, coming off a 21-point drop the year previous … even though nearby Lake Tahoe had a nice, 4% boost. (The State of Nevada doesn’t bust out numbers for Mesquite and Primm specifically, not that all-important weather vane [I’m not joking!], Wendover. As Wendover goes, so goes Nevada — only more so.)
A 90% occupancy rate, increased visitation (+3%) and higher convention attendance (+9%) were good enough for a 12% ADR increase in Las Vegas, which averaged $115/night. Even with a couple thousand additional rooms on the market, the new inventory is starting to be absorbed. Perhaps we can finally cease modifying “optimism” with “cautious.” The continued anemia of Reno vindicates Pinnacle Entertainment‘s decision to vacate that market, although there’s enough distressed casino inventory in Vegas to hope that Pinnacle reinvests somewhere closer to the Strip.
Those figures must be encouraging to Las Vegas. I think the city is an awful lot like America. Once the overhang of Fontainbleau & Echelon is past then steady growth will be possible. The immediate future should be up Downtown too with the Mob Museum and the beginning of something new at the Fitz and the Downtown Grand in 2012. When I look at Las Vegas the air passanger count is all important. Anecdotially, the direct flights from London has been huge for Vegas. If the city becomes a domestic hub again it would be a huge boost.