Gas prices apparently not hurting LV casinos

Friday, May 25, 2001 | 11:15 a.m.

Although a recent poll of Americans suggests that the rising price of gasoline will cause them to cut back on vacation plans or cancel trips, Las Vegas isn't feeling the impact.

Statistically, car visits to Las Vegas from Southern California have been down in the first four months of 2001, but advanced bookings indicate resorts in downtown and along the Strip are at or near capacity for Memorial Day and into the summer.

The reason: Resorts are doing a better job of marketing to loyal customers who will make return trips regardless of the price of gas. Because Las Vegas is still perceived as a good travel bargain, the price of getting here is somewhat mitigated. And air travel to Las Vegas remains a bargain, since the biggest airline serving the city is low-fare leader Southwest Airlines.

"The drop in auto traffic is probably due to a combination of things," said Rob Powers, a spokesman for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. "It's the energy crisis in California and the softening economy as well as the price of gasoline."

And even though gasoline may cost more, Powers said it isn't changing people's travel plans to Las Vegas.

"They may be changing plans to go across the country or renting an RV, but I don't think an additional $20 or $25 is going to dissuade a large number of people from coming here," Power said.

That seems to be verified by a spot check of resort bookings.

"While the energy crisis challenges everybody's pocketbook, it also brings into focus the value that Las Vegas has been built on and we're definitely a part of that," said Rob Stilwell, a spokesman for Boyd Gaming Corp., which serves a diverse clientele with locals casinos, downtown properties, the Stardust hotel-casino on the Strip and Sam's Town on Boulder Highway.

"We're in line with previous Memorial Day weekends (bookings) and the summer looks pretty good," Stilwell said.

He said Boyd's strength in downtown is the continued marketing of Hawaiian customers.

"The Hawaiian economy struggled in the late '90s, but it has started to turn around and our efforts in Hawaii have kept bookings strong," he said.

Another company that has placed a greater emphasis on marketing loyal customers is Harrah's Entertainment Inc., which cross-markets thousands of people who have signed up for the company's Total Rewards program.

Gary Thompson, a spokesman for Harrah's, said the company doesn't have a vast room inventory to fill in Las Vegas, but it has a huge database from which to draw.

"We're not seeing any downturn at all," Thompson said. "We don't have a lot of rooms to fill and we're seeing a lot of demand. It's looking like a very strong summer in Las Vegas."