Hey, neighbor, try our hotel

Chris Morris

By Liz Benston (contact)

Saturday, May 31, 2008 | 2 a.m.

John Powell and his family pulled off the freeway and checked into the Green Valley Ranch Station Casino this week for a two-day getaway that promised poolside lounging, live jazz and upscale dining and shopping.

Rested and a bit more tanned, they packed up their bags two days later for the trip back home — less than 10 miles away.

John Powell and people like him — locals who don’t necessarily gamble but enjoy a nice getaway — are the new tourists in town.

Station’s strategy is simple: Offer room discounts, dining coupons, movie and bowling passes, and gas cards to persuade locals to stay in its rooms instead of leaving town — and having to shell out for gas or airline tickets.

The idea of staying in a hotel a few miles from home appealed to Powell, who travels long distances for his job as a computer trainer and whose immediate neighborhood has little in the way of shopping or other attractions.

“It’s like being a tourist in our own town. And it was a great deal,” he said.

Travel experts have a name for it: staycations.

Station executives say the locals promotion wasn’t triggered by the economic slump, which, fueled by the mortgage crisis and higher gas prices, has cut into locals’ gambling budgets and trips to casinos.

Still, it is helping Station fill rooms at a time when budget travelers from out of town — the people who normally book rooms at off-Strip, neighborhood casinos — are cooling on Vegas. The company has booked more than 600 locals packages since the promotion began Memorial Day weekend.

Station isn’t the only company to pitch local getaways. Hotels in other major cities, including San Diego and Phoenix, are offering locals discounts to fuel business.

For the first time in six years, a AAA survey of travelers revealed a decline in both air and car travel over the Memorial Day weekend. Gas prices are up 6 percent in April from March and 21 percent higher than a year ago, according to the Travel Industry Association, and airfares are up 10 percent from a year ago.

Because of such concerns, travelers avoided taking an estimated 41 million flights last year, costing airlines more than $9 billion and hotels nearly $6 billion, the association says.

In a sense, locals casinos have a step up on their nongaming counterparts across the country because they are popular among locals.

Now, Strip casinos are bidding for a piece of the action by marketing to a captive audience of nearly 2 million people.

The Sahara is promoting video poker machines that it says are paying percentages more akin to those offered at neighborhood casinos. Word about the machines has spread among locals, who track favorable games that come and go from casinos on Web sites and Internet chat rooms. But the Sahara has given away the secret — all the better to lure tourists who want to be in the know — with a sign designating a part of the casino floor “Locals Lane.”

The Sahara also has created a separate players club for locals that offers deeper discounts for meals, drinks, shows and hotel rooms that can be used for players or out-of-town friends or family.

The Sahara began working on the locals program last year after Los Angeles nightclub king Sam Nazarian bought the property and before the economic downturn.

Elsewhere in town:

• Hooters is offering free rooms to local gamblers who’ve patronized the property before.

• The Palazzo is sending mailers to locals who aren’t yet customers.

• The Las Vegas Hilton is adopting a locals-casino strategy by offering gambling discounts, cash and gifts to locals who return.

• Harrah’s is offering to cover locals’ losses up to $100 after they join the company’s Total Rewards slot club.

Las Vegas casino consultant Jeffrey Compton is cynical concerning Strip casinos’ efforts. Only a few casinos, such as the Palms and Wynn Las Vegas, make an effort to draw locals with consistent gambling deals and favorable machines, he said.

“A lot of Strip casinos turn to locals when they need them, whether it’s summertime or an (economic downturn). They’re not high-profit customers but they’re better than nothing.”

Getting people to return to the Strip when there’s so much offered at more accessible locals casinos “is a tough sell,” Compton said.

Station Casinos, whose earnings are down more than 10 percent amid the downturn, says it has been fairly easy to sell locals on the concept of staying close to home this summer.

“They might not be able to afford to go to Mexico or some other destination. But they still need a couple of days away,” company spokeswoman Lori Nelson said. “The locals come to our properties, but they haven’t seen them from the tourists’ point of view.”