Las Vegas Facing Downturn in Fly-Ins

November 18, 2008 By: Mark Rogers

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Reuters reports that the number of visitors flying into and out of Las Vegas marked its eleventh consecutive monthly decline in September and sank 13.2 percent from a year earlier. This is the biggest year-over-year drop in tourist traffic through McCarran International Airport since the months after the 9/11 attacks. Adding insult to injury, the visitors who are arriving are spending less. As casinos diversified with more retail components, a drop in retail sales has also impacted the Nevada’s sales tax revenues. Tight credit is also putting the brakes on existing projects, such as Boyd Gaming Corporation’s partially built $4.8 billion mega-resort Echelon project on the Las Vegas Strip. Boyd Gaming has announced that the project will be put on hold through at least 2009.