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Not your father’s casino marketing strategy
A line of kids are waiting to tell Santa what they want for Christmas, but they won’t be sitting on his lap.
That’s because Santa is floating inside the 117,000-gallon aquarium at the Silverton Casino and Lodge, his white beard billowing as the parrot fish and stingrays glide by. He’s taking orders for Xbox Lives and bikes via an assistant standing outside with a microphone.
Read More »Catering to the ‘curious class’
About 36 million people come to Las Vegas a year. They come to town to do a variety of things—shop, eat, gamble, hedonize. From all corners of the globe and from all walks of life, the city welcomes them all.
And yet the soon-to-open Cosmopolitan has a mission: to find a class of people who haven’t been served in Las Vegas, and deliver an experience that will get them talking, and coming back.
Read More »Five stars and one big party
On Nov. 19, Bellagio threw a big 26-hour party.
That’s not news for a resort that hosts a variety of fêtes every day. This one, though, was all about the employees, who toasted the resort winning its 10th consecutive AAA Five Diamond award.
Read More »Tales from the Global Gaming Expo
The Global Gaming Expo, gambling’s biggest trade show, has come and gone, with plenty of discussions and deals in the conference rooms and exposition halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center. This year it proved, despite the beating that Las Vegas has taken in the past few years, it is still a city where people come to talk casinos—and to get a peek at the future of the industry.
Read More »Reshuffling at M Resort not hurting business
In the casino world, tomorrow is never certain. That’s become clear at the M Resort, where, despite some uncertainty about the future, the present is looking extremely bright.
Last month, Penn National Gaming of Wyomissing, Pa., announced that it had acquired all of the M’s outstanding bank debt, as well as a loan formerly held by MGM Resorts International, for $230.5 million.
Read More »Gambling on debt
It’s no secret that casino companies are more debt-encumbered now than they’ve ever been. In 1990, the average big Las Vegas Strip casino (those earning more than $72 million a year in gaming revenue), had $7.8 million in long-term debt attached to it. By 1999, that number had soared to $171.5 million. And as of 2009, the total stood at $860 million. That’s a lot of borrowing.
Read More »Vegas convention biz heads for cutting edge
The business travel market has always been important for Las Vegas. But with the 2008-09 downturn in convention bookings, it’s clear just how crucial meetings are for the local economy. Recently, MGM Resorts International began a few programs that help convention guests stay connected while they’re here.
Read More »Bilingual is in the cards in Primm
Forty miles south of Las Vegas, Herbst Gaming is using its Primm casinos as a crucible for new ideas. With nothing to lose—the casinos have been hard-hit by the recession and competition from California Indian casinos—the company is getting creative. One thing that has worked better than expected is marketing to Spanish-speaking Californians. On Oct. 1, the company began offering table gaming in both English and Spanish, with surprising results.
Read More »Welcome to the 13th Floor
About this time every year, theme parks around the country get a monthlong reprieve from the off-season as they re-theme themselves for Halloween. No one wants to float down a lazy river in October, but being chased by zombies through a maze is another story. Locally, Circus Circus is making the most of scare season with two attractions that promise to terrify patrons.
Read More »Podcast-a-palooza comes to the Flamingo
Las Vegas is bigger than the sum of its parts, particularly on the Internet. There are a host of websites, blogs, bulletin boards and podcasts that dissect every aspect of the city’s resort culture. And, later this month, three of the best-known Las Vegas podcasts are broadcasting together, live from the Strip.
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