Bellagio visitor volume, revenues exceed expectations

Robert Macy

Monday, Nov. 9, 1998 | 3:23 a.m.

Having bet $1.6 billion on the "Field of Dreams" theory, early indications are that casino mogul Steve Wynn may have hit the jackpot with his new Bellagio resort. The company reports that nearly one million people visited the new resort in the first 20 days after it opened to the public Oct. 15.

"All the figures are well above our expectations," Alan Feldman, vice president of public affairs for Mirage Resorts Inc., said Monday. "We say that with the full expectation that once there is a normal operating period, these numbers will go down, although we expect them to remain quite high, at record-setting levels."

Wynn developed the world's most expensive hotel on the thesis that if he built it, people would come. Early indications are that Wynn guessed right, as he did nine years ago when the company built the flagship Mirage hotel-casino, then far exceeded visitor and revenue expectations.

The company reported Monday that in the first 20 days of operation, table games play of $125 million at Bellagio was 40 percent above what was acheived in the first 20 days of operation at The Mirage.

Room, food and beverage revenues have been more than double the comparable numbers at The Mirage, the company reported.

And retail sales the first 20 days are nearly $9 million, or more than $5 per square foot per day.

Slot revenues of more than $12.7 million exceeded in only 20 days the best month ever at The Mirage, the company reported.

"In every facet, Bellagio is doing extremely well, better than we had expected," Feldman said Monday.

The average rate for rooms and suites occupied at the 3,025-room resort the first 20 days has been $188 per night, a figure Feldman called "unprecedented in Las Vegas history."

Normal rates range from several thousand dollars per night for certain suites at peak periods to $99 per night for some standard rooms during certain mid-week periods.

The resort's reservation center received 140,000 calls in the first 20 days and confirmed approximately 28,000 new reservations.

Gaming analysts had expressed concern Bellagio could cannibalize other Mirage properties, particiularly the company's high-end flagship resort. Feldman said the other properties appear to be "unaffected" by Bellagio's opening.