Vegas Shows Signs that the Recession is Ending

After many long months of bad news coming out of Las Vegas, it was pleasing to read this week that gambling revenue in the gambling capital was up in October 2010.  The latest statistics released by the Nevada Gaming Board show that gaming revenue on the Las Vegas strip climbed 16% compared to the same month a year ago. Translated into dollar signs, this means a growth from $426.3 million to $494.8 million. Moving away from the Strip, downtown Vegas showed its own growth of 10.3%.

It definitely seems as if Vegas, and Nevada as a whole, are making that slow and painful climb out of the terrible recession years that were experienced. It is clear that Americans (and foreign tourists) are heading back to the gambling tables to enjoy their favorite casino games, and bringing their money with them. This was the third consecutive month that Nevada casinos showed an increase in revenue – this time up 11% in total. Statewide, casino collected revenue of $888.6 million, compared to October 2009, when revenue just reached $800 million.

One analyst said that these results indicated a statewide stabilization of Nevada’s casino gaming industry. He said that while stabilization did not mean that each month, revenues would increase, the long term picture indicates that casino revenue and tourist visitation would continue to rise steadily throughout 2011.

In terms of specific casino games that led to higher revenues, baccarat can certainly take the title. Revenues for the game on the Strip were $91.4 million, an increase of 41.2%. Slot machines also did well, with $9.28 billion wagered statewide. This is also the first time that an increase in monthly coin-in has been reported since back in October 2007.  The analyst said that this indicated the “mass market appeal” that the industry has been hoping to see once more return to Nevada and the Las Vegas Strip.

Las Vegas officials were especially pleased with the results from downtown Vegas and touted it as a growing tourism market. There are now plans to develop the currently-closed Lady Luck Casino, while the online retailer, Zappos will move from Henderson to the Las Vegas City Hall building in 2012.