[nitro1320]

Originally Posted by mojavedxer

Everybody in management who ran that playbook is now dead or working till they die in a tribal joint.

I laughed when I read that. So True!

[Cold Warrior]

Originally Posted by lvmensch

The Strip is no longer a primarily gaming operation. Gaming is important but only one of the 3 revenue streams.

Resort fees are used by the casinos to avoid taxes. They will be the last thing to go away.

The physical plants are mostly not suited for low end clientele. And the plants are not going away any time soon.

So we may see some more and even less expensive Casinos. But the Wynn and Bellagio will stay as they are.

Just wait and watch. The fundamental economics of the Strip have not changed.

Good point.

[Merrily Gather]

At a very minimum the Casinos should give free parking to all Las Vegas residents with valid government issued ID. Bring back the locals and the people that come to visit the locals. Give us industry rates and room discounts for staycations. Raffle off weekend stays on nice properties to frontline heros, essential workers cuz sometimes we want to drink and play with a bed in the building. Grand prize could be a suite over a major holiday like New Year's for one lucky local couple.

[Vic Romano]

Not sure how much I will miss the buffets. I don't eat as much as I used to. Waiting in line is a pain. The good buffets were expensive. Most had average or worse food. There are plenty of great restaurants in the vicinity nowadays.

[CD2017]

Originally Posted by equid0x

Characterizing the "common man" as "steerage" is disgusting.

I agree. It's a reflection of how corporate America treats the middle class and below when it comes to Airlines and similar industries. I don't think it's right but they most certainly do see us as that.

[Cold Warrior]

Originally Posted by rhuff80

I agree. It's a reflection of how corporate America treats the middle class and below when it comes to Airlines and similar industries. I don't think it's right but they most certainly do see us as that.

How is your characterization a reflection of anyone else but you?

[CD2017]

Originally Posted by Cold Warrior

How is your characterization a reflection of anyone else but you?

If you'd like me to to ELI5, take a look at the shrinking seats, amenities, etc of flying coach. Airlines make virtually nothing off of coach (as is their right) and maximize the profits off of upselling. So, much like the wage gap that has occurred between the rich and the poor, the airlines are a perfect example of that.

If you think any corporation that has shareholders give of F about you, then okay....

Anyway, I hope that makes sense. I may be the only person in the world that thinks that, so you could be right.

[Hal Roach]

Originally Posted by rhuff80

Good luck with that. I believe this will lead to even more catering to the well-off after the initial return to "normal." With lower occupancy rates, etc, they will cater to the wealthy to make up for the reduction in people. This will be much like what the airlines have done post 9-11. Make bank on first class and biz class and treat the steerage, well, like steerage.

I hope you're right, but old vegas is gone. Shareholders will do whatever maximizes profits. Less staff, more automation.

Are you staying the airline plan was a success? More like a playbook on how to ruin an industry. At least the EU holds them accountable for unexcused incompetence.

[Cold Warrior]

Originally Posted by rhuff80

If you'd like me to to ELI5, take a look at the shrinking seats, amenities, etc of flying coach. Airlines make virtually nothing off of coach (as is their right) and maximize the profits off of upselling. So, much like the wage gap that has occurred between the rich and the poor, the airlines are a perfect example of that.

If you think any corporation that has shareholders give of F about you, then okay....

Anyway, I hope that makes sense. I may be the only person in the world that thinks that, so you could be right.

I see you still don't understand, so I will explain it more carefully. You wrote:

This will be much like what the airlines have done post 9-11. Make bank on first class and biz class and treat the steerage, well, like steerage.

That is your characterization of airline passengers, not that of any airline.
Equid0x wrote:

Characterizing the "common man" as "steerage" is disgusting.

This is a comment about the characterization that only you are making..

You then wrote:

I agree. It's a reflection of how corporate America treats the middle class and below when it comes to Airlines and similar industries. I don't think it's right but they most certainly do see us as that.

Your characterization can only be a reflection of your opinion.


I hope this was understandable to you.

[Willy702]

I know most of you won't like them and will say its all crap and the management teams know nothing, but along with some coworkers we had a brainstorming type session with a high-level executive for one of the Strip operators. We went over all the things you guys are thinking about and saying they should do, but guess what, few have a chance to happen.

Resort Fees
They know some hate them, but this operator said his surveys show the resort fees aren't that hated by their target markets. And he said he's had friendly conversations with competitors and they have found the same thing. He did say if they were forced to change by new laws, it wouldn't really impact them that much but they also doubt it would grow demand at all. Listed prices would just increase, which is why almost no casino properties have tried to market themselves as the no resort fee option.

He did say there is consideration for a multi-property portfolio to go to more of a differential between resort fees. So a value property might be lowered to $25-30, mid-range could remain around $40 and top shelf goes to $60, or something like that. The changes could be part of a marketing push related to internal efforts in terms of categorizing offers to customers at different levels of budget. They might even take out or add amenities, with value seeing minimal pool or gym options, while the top shelf gets improvements in those areas as they concentrate their offerings at the places where they charge for them.

Parking Fees
They feel parking fees are strategic that they don't plan on removing them completely. Surveys they have done show the pricing isn't as sensitive as one would think. If it costs $15 to park 3 hours, they don't believe charging $5 instead would change visitation much. The argument being the person who doesn't want to spend $15 generally wouldn't spend that much in profit in the building if the parking was free. He pointed out the people say that I would put $20 in a slot machine if I could park for free miss the fact that $20 into a machine rarely equates to $20 of expected profit for the casino.

He did say there are a lot of discussions going on about perhaps making it much easier to obtain free parking with new categories of player tiers. They are considering lowering the qualifications to get free parking for just modest play, or even just a few meals in property restaurants from locals or visitors. They might even have a period of free parking for locals to give them a shot at reaching this level.

Non-smoking property
He said there is discussion, far from a certainty, that they might take one of the properties and make it smoke-free. Its not a strategic move to gain gaming revenue, which is what everyone thinks about, but to create growth from target markets which may be turned off by the presence of smoking. It probably will have a smaller gaming floor and new dining and amenity offerings. They think this is more a play on the business traveler and the health conscious tourist. They might build out the best quality gym/spa, have a range of healthy restaurants, and offer access to lots of meeting space.

I think this one may take some time, but this could be a great move. It could take some resort that faces heavy competition and differentiate it. The problem has always been worry about losing gaming revenue, but gaming revenue is a relatively small part of the revenue stream at some resorts. They can afford to take that risk if they can charge more for rooms, resort fee and unique restaurants.