Of the 130,000 available hotel rooms (148,978 when dropped in Nye County and Laughlin) you might think there are “Deals” to be found. You’re probably wrong! Finding a “deal” in a town whose properties at Major Resort run almost capacity has been difficult. Why not? Because the resort’s prime assets are covered by a select group of companies that do not have a discount incentive.
Vegas Supply and Demand Law
Let’s briefly consider the simple “Supply and Demand” law. If supply is high and demand is low then prices will decline. Vegas is boomtown, demand is high and supply is low. How can that be done in 130,000 rooms? The answer is simple: 30 million annual visitors and growing! In fact, the rate of growth has been surprisingly impressive with Mega Resorts such as Mandalay Bay (43 story $ 375 million Spa Tower with 1,120 Suites completed in December 2004) and The Venetian (now expanding) and the new completed $ 2.4 Billion Wynn Las Vegas (Opened April 2005) adds thousands of rooms to the “Heart of the Strip”. What is surprising is the growth that even from Financier States like Donald Trump put into action. Demand for Money is over supply so prices are rising!
According to an interview published on July 30, 2004 in USA Today, Trump plans to include a 64-story hotel-condominium tower to be built on part of the Frontier Hotel property off Wynn Las Vegas Resort and next to the Fashion Show Mall.
It is slated to begin construction in 2005 on a $ 300 million project with 1,000 hotel rooms, and 50 luxury residential units selected after the Trump International Hotel and Tower in New York. There is no Casino on the property.
Only 10% of Las Vegas Hotels are booked Online
In several articles I researched this year published by various Scheduling Businesses and Hotel Industry analysts the actual booking rate for Hotels offering online services at their visitors are approximately 10% of the Nationwide. This I believe is also an accurate representation of Las Vegas. (Our company runs many websites that offer Hotel Booking and these numbers are in line with our own).
Further Proof: “Only about 10 percent of our rooms are booked on Hyatt.COM,” said Gary Gotling, director of sales and marketing for Hyatt Regency Tampa.
This means that 90% of you use the Internet to gather information, but not actually make your reservation Online! Traditional Travel Agents and phone calls are still the preferred method of booking. The Internet is used as a source for collecting information, and much more. Great Players know this and use it to their advantage. Again there is no incentive to offer lower prices if your customers do not take advantage of them. I will briefly address the Tax Crimes issue by stating that most local Governments hate the internet because rooms booked online by State interests are being cut off by their available pool. Local Government officials are expected to take action later on this issue.
So where does your money go if you book online?
If you search Vegas.com you will find that they are owned by Greenspun Media Group (Henderson, NV) who publishes the Las Vegas Sun Daily Newspaper, and is the owner of Vegas Magazine, Showbiz Weekly, In Business, Las Vegas Weekly, VegasGolfer, Las Vegas Life, and Ralston Report. Greenspun Media is part of the Greenspun Corporation, which also owns Channel 25 UPN. Greenspun is a partner of Las Vegas ONE, an all-news cable channel. American Nevada, the real estate subdivision of The Greenspun Corporation, is one of the most recognized commercial and residential residents of the Las Vegas valley. Their annual advertising budget is over 7! There is a price to pay for all advertising.
You can try the well-known website LasVegas.com with an interesting and solid history. The site was licensed in 2002 from Stephens Media Group in Littlerock Arkansas (Las Vegas Review Journal, Hawaii.com) to Mandalay Resort Group and Parkplace Entertainment. Follow up today – the 2004 Park Place became Caesars Entertainment, which was instead purchased by Harrah’s Entertainment. This deal comes just a month after MGM / Mirage approved the purchase of Mandalay Resort Group. Need a rope room? Hmmm – I think valuation can be the same as going forward! And to think that you could own LasVegas.com in late 1997!
IAC (InterActiveCorp) managed by Mega Financier Barry Diller operates these online Travel Booking Agencies
· Vacations on Expedia.com
· The Vegas Package on Expedia
· Hotwire.com
· TripAdvisor.com
· Hotels.com
· IAN.com
Note (s): Expedia is the # 1 overall Travel Book for the 3rd internet based travel agencies. But they have little in the way of a “booking pie”. Diller also oversaw the recent acquisition of “Ask Jeeves” for just $ 1.85 billion. Do not expect room prices to drop anytime soon.
Owner of Saber Holdings Corp:
Travelocity – # 3 in Travel Bookings
Note: Saber is the “Big Player” in the Travel Agent industry as most Travel Agent computers are tied to their booking systems. Travelocity is # 3 behind Expedia and Orbitz (now owned by Cedant Corp.)
Cedant Crop is the top worlds of the Hotel Franchiser with over 6,400 locations and owners or franchises:
· Orbitz – # 2 in Travel Visits
· Lodging.com
· HotelClub.com
· Ratestogo.com
FYI – Cadant also owns Avis & Budget Rent A Car, Fairfield Resorts (timeshare resorts), Cheap Tickets.com, and Century 21 and Coldwell Banker Real Estate Franchises.
So where does that leave you? I suggest that you read the tips below easily.
Easy Tips for Vegas Visitors on a Budget?
You might be thinking that I would recommend visiting the “off season”. Don’t do it! The temperature in August often exceeds 110 degrees – and that is the air temperature not the warmth of the concrete and asphalt. I would not suggest that you do something much simpler – just stay tuned! Car rentals are cheap when you compare them to the high prices of “On Strip” Mega Resorts. Try a Hotel in Henderson or Summerlin. I recommend small resorts like The SunCoast or The Orleans.
Get a rental car and park behind Excalibur, New York New York, or the Fashion Show Mall (Cover it up and be sure). Click Ads on the Internet and see what works. While 90% of the rooms are booked in the capacity of Hotels that have not been fully booked! Click on the ads! I once stayed at Fiesta Henderson for $ 29.95 a night for 3 nights in a row, and there was a suite with 2 queen rooms! I found this deal in an Internet Ad! In fact when I called the Hotel to try and get a better deal they said I should book online! Try corporate housing as it is always full on weekdays but will be available on Week Santa when the Travel businessman returns home. Visit the Hotels website where you can stay and sign up for their email promotions to get offers sent directly to you before your trip (Use a free address like Hotmail for this purpose). Ask the table if you are signing in for any additional perks or offers available to guests. It’s like asking for a window seat on a plane, if you don’t ask for it you can’t get it. And my final tip is Form Before Fashion – bring your most comfortable walking shoes and stock of bottled water to the local grocer before you check. Enjoy!