As Las Vegas…so goes the World
Thursday, November 20th, 2008The activity at gaming tables are a good indicator of the state of the Global Economy. Both Las Vegas and Macau are seeing declining revenues, though traffic to the former Portugese colony is also suffering from recent Chinese restrictions on travel. Here is the take from Gerald Campbell in Las Vegas:
Revenues in Las Vegas are dipping! ”Casino revenue at the largest U.S. gambling center slid 6.7 percent to $4.21 billion this year through August as U.S. consumers struggled with higher gasoline and food prices, declining home values, job losses and the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.” Quote from Bloomberg, Oct 9th, 2008.
With the slowing economy; extraneous spending on gambling, high-end consumer products, and expensive entertainment are the first casualties and it is definately affecting the market in Las Vegas. Casinos, hotels, and entertainment venues are all experiencing a reduction in cash flow.
In a recent tour of several casino’s, I noticed them to be much emptier than just a few months before. I spoke with a Showroom supervisor who stated that ticket sales were down. At least one major casino construction project has be put ‘on hold’, lay offs of casino personnel have occured, and ’special deals’ can be found on the internet for hotel packages at a fraction of the price found this time last year. There has even been talk of lowering the minimum age for gambling from 21 to 18- though this idea has found little support.
This has caused a ‘ripple effect’ on many other areas………housing values are depreciating, unemployment and criminal activity has slightly increased.
Technorati Tags: Global Economy, Las Vegas, Macau, China, Gerald Campbell, Casino, U.S., Great Depression, hotels, entertainment venues, housing values, unemployment, criminal activity
