Study details LV's woes in attracting visitors

Las Vegas is acknowledged as the best casino venue in the world by gamblers. But it's also perceived by gamblers as being congested, impersonal and too family oriented, a marketing study issued today says.

Other problems for Clark County's $6.1 billion gaming industry: Gamblers are more likely to satisfy impulse gaming visits with trips to closer venues; and flight availability and traffic problems to and from Los Angeles discourage some would-be gamblers from coming to Las Vegas.

Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority board members today received the report and a staff summary. They are expected to develop a one-, three- and five-year marketing strategy at the next board meeting on Aug. 11. The effort is crucial because the visitor count to the city of 9.9 million through April was down 2.7 percent from the same period a year ago.

Much of the report includes statistics verifying what local gaming executives already know -- that riverboats, Indian casinos, race tracks with slot machines and card clubs are taking a bite out of local visitation numbers.

Alternative gaming venues make their biggest dent in the number of repeat visits to the city, the study says.

Other destinations have reduced the frequency of trips to Las Vegas from 11 every five years in 1994 to seven trips per every five years in 1997. The study says 39 percent of past-year visitors would have come more often if not for other destinations while 34 percent of people who did not visit in the past year would have come if not for other venues.

Included in the study were results from 16 focus groups conducted in eight key feeder markets and telephone surveys seeking answers to questions ranging from perceptions of Las Vegas to what airline they preferred to use.

Rossi Ralenkotter, the LVCVA's vice president of marketing, said the agency will intensify its marketing pitch to airlines and better emphasize the city's attractions.

"We will have a concentrated plan that we will take to the carriers," he said.

He said the most significant finding in today's report is the decrease in the frequency of visitation by Las Vegas's best customers.

Ralenkotter said one response to today's study will be to market Las Vegas to "leisure travlers." Unlike visitors here mainly to gamble, they perceive Las Vegas as an entertainment destination.

The focus groups solicited comments from gamblers in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, Houston, Denver, Detroit, Chicago and New York. Their perceived weaknesses of Las Vegas included that congestion and traffic is too great; that there are long wait times for activities, shows and dining; that Las Vegas has a less friendly, more impersonal atmosphere; that gaming minimums are too high; and that there are less favorable odds of winning.

Asked why they would be less likely to visit, the focus groups said their gaming impulses were satisfied by more convenient local gaming venues; that travel costs are more expensive; that more time commitment is required (from the long-haul markets); and that Las Vegas has become too family oriented.

Focus groups in Houston and Denver cited the need for more availability and convenience of flights while Los Angeles group members noted traffic problems to and from Las Vegas.

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