Las Vegas Strip March casino gambling revenue climbs 13%

Revenue increased to US$ 527.3 million from US$ 467.1 million a year earlier, Nevada’s Gaming Control Board said in an e-mail. Betting was down 0.42 % in the first three months of 2011 from a year earlier.

Las Vegas is recovering from record declines in gambling and convention revenue. Strip-betting proceeds increased 4.1 % last year, after dropping more than 9 % in 2008 and 2009. MGM Resorts International (MGM) said last week the recovery was broad-based. Wynn Resorts CEO, Steve Wynn said last month that Vegas business has improved and Caesars Entertainment executives said the Strip is strengthening.

“The recovery is clearly under way right now and it’s gaining traction,” MGM Chairman and CEO Jim Murren said in a May 4 interview. “It was really across the portfolio in leisure and retail travelers and conventions.”

Revenue for all Nevada casinos rose 5.1 % to $958.7 million in March, the board said. Monthly proceeds for Clark County, which includes downtown Las Vegas as well as the Strip, increased 7.2 % to US$ 835.7 million.

Convention attendance climbed 11 % in the first three months of this year from the same period in 2010, overall visitation rose 5.1 %, and average daily room rates at hotels have gained 9.8 %, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority said today on its website. About 37.3 million people visited the city last year, a 2.7 % increase from 2009.

Passenger traffic at Las Vegas’s McCarran International Airport rose 3.1 % in the first three months of this year, according to Clark County Department of Aviation data. Last year, such traffic fell 1.8 %. Carriers including United Continental Holding’s United Airlines have cut flights to the city.