Rumbolz bullish about city's future

"One thing the Las Vegas gaming industry is good at is adapting," Mike Rumbolz, president and chief operating officer of Anchor Gaming, said Friday. "Eventually, one of our business leaders sets a new standard. Once the bar is raised, the competition consistently rises to the new challenges with innovative products and creative thinking."

Rumbolz, former chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, said no city is better than Las Vegas at adapting to change in the marketplace.

"Las Vegas is maturing as a gaming destination," Rumbolz told Real Trends '99, a real estate forum presented by Colliers International. "We're the wiser, older brother of the other gaming jurisdictions throughout the United States."

Four new resorts are scheduled to open in Las Vegas over the next eight months, with 12,000 new rooms added to the city's current inventory of 109,000.

Rumbloz said the increase will create pricing pressures that will make it difficult for gaming companies to maintain the investment returns to which they've become accustomed.

But the 1998 occupancy rate of 87 percent surpassed the 1990 level and is still the highest in the country.

He said naysayers predicted Las Vegas would lose most of its customers east of the Mississippi River to Atlantic City, N.J. when gambling was legalized there, but the city continued to prosper.

Rumbolz cited Las Vegas' growing upscale retail and restaurant business as one way the city adapts to change. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reports that for the first time, more tourist say they come to the city for entertainment than for gambling.

When properties such as The Venetian hotel-casino opens in April and the Aladdin hotel-casino opens in 2000, Las Vegas will have more shopping available on the Strip than anywhere else in the country, he said.

Can casinos meet the challenge of capturing the hearts and minds of people looking for the total resort experience in Las Vegas?

"I'm not prepared to take that bet against the house," Rumbolz said.

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