Sin City Watches Convention Business Make a U-Turn

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The Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority is reporting that 340 events have been canceled over the past three months. This is a net loss to Sin City hotels of 112,000 guests and 236,700 room stays. Some of the larger groups canceling are Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, State Farm and Wells Fargo.

You may remember President Obama’s remarks last month criticizing junket spending in Las Vegas by companies receiving funds from Troubled Asset Relief Program. Calls for an apology from Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman went unanswered. Obama’s comments can’t be blamed for the total mess Vegas finds itself in, but they certainly didn’t help. The city is currently reeling from statistics that show fewer than 2.8 million people came to Las Vegas in January, representing a 12 percent drop from the same month last year. Convention visitation plunged 20.6 percent to 538,415. The average daily room rate for January was down 19.9 percent to less than $105.