Gaming briefs for March 16, 2004

Tuesday, March 16, 2004 | 11:01 a.m.

Boyd acquiring data analysis system

A Las Vegas company that specializes in systems to report casino game and trend analysis has signed an agreement with Boyd Gaming Corp., Las Vegas.

Casino Data Imaging, which already had systems in place at four Boyd properties, signed a deal with the company that will enable it to sell its CasinoCAD analysis program to all Boyd properties.

Terms were not disclosed.

Denny Frey, vice president of information technology at Boyd, said the system enables his company to optimize the use of its slot machines and analyze slot performance by type and denomination.

George Levine, director of sales and marketing for privately held Casino Data Imaging, said the company already had systems in place at Boyd's Stardust and Sam's Town properties in Las Vegas and its Delta Downs race track in Louisiana. A system also was recently placed in the Sam's Town in Tunica, Miss. The agreement will enable Boyd to compare data by property or city and on a regional, national and global basis.

New service to Louisiana announced

Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air will begin nonstop round-trip air service four times a week between Las Vegas and Baton Rouge, La., beginning May 10.

A spokesman said today that the new Baton Rouge flights would operate Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. The new service will be flown on 161-seat twin-engine MD-83 jets.

Those flights and new North Dakota and South Dakota service announced last week are being added as a result of the airline's acquisition of a new jet.

Allegiant last week added twice-a-week flights between Las Vegas and Sioux City, S.D., and Bismarck, N.D., beginning May 3.

January visitor statistics break record

More than 3 million tourists visited Las Vegas in January, a 4.8 percent increase from a year ago and the best January on record, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported Monday.

Visitor numbers got a boost from the improving economy, stronger leisure and tourism business and an extra weekend day in January compared to a year ago, tourism authority officials said.

Occupancy rates in January were up 1.8 percent from a year ago to 82.4 percent. Room nights occupied by tourists totaled 1.6 million, a 15.6 percent increase from a year ago. Room nights occupied by convention-goers, the second category measured by the tourism authority, fell 3.4 percent to 1.8 million.

Convention attendance fell 7.8 percent to 824,362 but the economic impact of conventions in Las Vegas grew 1.6 percent to just over $1 million.

Average daily room rates rose 15.5 percent to $97.98.