Sin City Christmas

Judy Odierna

Thursday, Dec. 26, 2002 | 11:14 a.m.

It started as a traditional Christmas Day for Carol and Scott Nozawa.

They woke up and exchanged gifts with relatives.

"Then we went and stuffed our face at the buffet, and we've been walking around gambling ever since," said Carol Nozawa, 33, whose family celebrated the holiday Wednesday -- in part -- on Fremont Street. That may not make for a traditional Christmas in San Diego, where the Nozawas are from, but then they were celebrating Christmas in Las Vegas.

"There's a lot of different things for different age groups and we are kind of an untraditional family, so it's a perfect fit," Scott Nozawa said. "When the little ones pop up, it may be a little different."

Vegas was traditionally Vegas on Christmas Day. A newly married bride and groom, who declined comment, walked happily down Fremont Street, the souvenir shops on the Strip were open by 10 a.m., the slot machine bells were ringing and traffic on Las Vegas Boulevard was bumper to bumper by 3 p.m.

"As we have really developed an identity as the premier destination, people come here anytime they have free time," said Bill Thompson, a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who has studied gambling since 1980. "People are always itching to get out by Christmas afternoon. I would think a lot of people (flew) in by then."

Jeff Zinke, 45, and his family celebrated a traditional Christmas in Colorado Wednesday morning, then hopped a flight to Las Vegas.

"Everything is closed in Denver," said Zinke, who was watching tourists take pictures with a Caesar character in Caesars Palace on Wednesday afternoon. "We knew it would all be open here."

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority estimates that more than 232,000 people came to Las Vegas this Christmas. Hotel occupancy was estimated at 79 percent, less than last year's crowd, which had the hotels at 84 percent occupancy.

Kevin Bagger, director of Internet marketing and research for the LVCVA, said that travel patterns last year were far less predictable because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"It was also closer to a weekend last year," Bagger said. "This year is more comparable to prior years."

Those who choose to sip their eggnog in Las Vegas are usually older, Thompson said.

"Many are older couples who are distant from their families either psychologically or geographically," he said.

Paul, 47, and Marie Robertson, 38, however, just found themselves with the time off from work and made their annual trip to Las Vegas from Calgary, Alberta. "We usually come down every year because this is when we can get time off," said Paul Robertson, who with his wife walked from the Sahara to Fremont Street to take in downtown. "We have spent some Christmases with our family. The only big difference is that here it's more relaxing, and we don't have all the snacks."

But hanging out at the casinos wasn't just for tourists, Michael Hayden, 42, of Henderson went to Caesars Palace to watch his daughter, Holly, sing Christmas songs with the Southern Nevada Lamplight Carolers.

"It's become a family tradition. We did this last year, too," Hayden said. "Our family came last weekend. It was hard this year because it landed on a Wednesday. So today we are free and we get to do anything."