Riding a wave of North American slot machine sales, both on new and replacement units, Las Vegas-based International Game Technology reported double-digit percentage increases in revenue, operating income and earnings per share today.
A record quarter for revenue in Macau and a 6.6 percent increase in Las Vegas lifted Wynn Resorts to a 44.4 percent increase in first-quarter earnings for the Las Vegas-based casino company.
Dallas-based Southwest Airlines, the busiest air carrier at McCarran International Airport, rode record first-quarter revenue and moderated fuel prices to post a profit that narrowed from a year ago.
Boosted by the early success of wide-area progressive games like Pawn Stars and Cash Wizard, Las Vegas-based Bally Technologies posted record earnings per share for the company’s third quarter that ended March 31.
Las Vegas-based Allegiant Travel, parent company of Allegiant Air, today reported its 41st straight profitable quarter, posting double-digit percentage increases in revenue, earnings and earnings per share.
Las Vegas-based Boyd Gaming, which operates several downtown Las Vegas properties and the off-Strip Orleans, reported a net quarterly loss of $7.3 million, despite higher revenue.
State auditors critical of the taxi industry and Nevada Taxicab Authority regulators who oversee it “have gone psycho on long-hauling” and haven’t analyzed audit data properly, operators of Southern Nevada’s second largest taxi group say.
Virgin America doesn’t do anything halfway when it comes to promoting new service and amenities, and Monday’s launch of three daily flights between Los Angeles and Las Vegas was no exception. Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson is no stranger to Las Vegas. He’s known worldwide as an adventurer, entrepreneur and philanthropist, and on Monday, he took six questions from the Sun.
An audit by a state agency found nearly a quarter of taxi trips from the Las Vegas airport in 2012 involved illegal long-hauling in which passengers were overcharged an estimated $14.8 million. A report issued today by the audit division of the Legislative Counsel Bureau said of 2,730 trip sheets reviewed by auditors, 614 of them — 22.5 percent — included reports of drivers taking passengers on a longer route than necessary.
Merger between American Airlines and US Airways could be good for Las Vegas
Monday, April 22, 2013
If you merge one company named American with another named US, you might expect something really big for the United States. But for Las Vegas, the imminent merger between American Airlines and US Airways likely will have more international implications than domestic ones.
Las Vegas has again topped TradeShow News Network’s list of the top conventions and trade show hosts in the United States in 2012 with 53 shows in the top 250.
XL Airways France, a small European carrier that has offered seasonal nonstop flights between Las Vegas and Paris since 2010, is increasing efforts to attract Southern Nevada passengers to fly to France through an old-school network — travel agents.
Bo Bernhard, an assistant professor of sociology and hotel management at UNLV and the executive director of the school’s International Gaming Institute, is an expert in gaming, tourism and compulsive gambling.
Health care fraud comes in a variety of flavors. Most involve bogus claims. Others include physician overbilling, identity theft, staged traffic accidents, fake slip-and-fall injuries and drug abuse. Many scammers justify their behavior by slamming insurance companies and their desire for profits.
The life of an average insurance fraud investigator isn’t anything like on TV. There aren’t late-night shootouts or wild car chases to track down bad guys.
‘What happens here, stays here’ sets the bar too high for ‘A world within’ to clear
Monday, April 15, 2013
With memories of the “What happens here, stays here” campaign fresh in people’s minds, many in the community waited with anticipation for the Nevada Tourism Commission’s new brand and catchphrase, which cost millions of dollars and has been in development for close to two years.
The director of the state Tourism Commission said that while many critics have pounced on Nevada's new tagline, she's confident the slogan will be embraced by residents and help attract tourists and businesses to the state.
Transportation experts say if lawmakers don’t approve legislation to increase revenue for street and road projects, they’d have only about $22.4 million a year for new construction — about enough to build one freeway interchange, one mile of road or one beltway segment without bridges.
A shorter month and the rotation of some convention and trade shows out of February resulted in a 1.3 percent dip in visitor volume that month, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported today.
Virginia “is for lovers.” Kentucky has “unbridled spirit.” And now, Nevada is “A World Within. A State Apart.” State tourism leaders today unveiled the state's new slogan, which cost close to $9 million and has been almost two years in the making. Officials also debuted the first television commercial to use the branding. The slogan conveys the uniqueness of the state, residents’ independent spirit and the variety of experiences and opportunities Nevada provides, Gov. Brian Sandoval said. The state plans to use the mark on documents from all of its departments.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority next month will consider a $327.1 million budget package for the 2013-14 fiscal year, including a $270.3 million operating budget.
Taxi industry regulators are preparing to put additional cabs on the city’s streets next week while drivers from the two largest taxi company groups continue to squabble with company management.
The world is filled with consumers who favor one product over another. There are Apples and PCs. Cokes and Pepsis. And, in the tourism world, there are bundlers and unbundlers.
The company that operates the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas narrowed sequential losses despite the smallest quarterly revenue total of the year in the fourth quarter that ended Dec. 31.
Traffic at McCarran International Airport fell by 3.7 percent to 3 million passengers in February over the same month last year. But February had one less day this year because 2012 was a leap year.
Union representatives say Southwest Airlines customers would receive second-class service if the company — the busiest air carrier at McCarran International Airport — hires outsourced labor to supplement its workforce.
Dr. Rajesh C. Shrotriya earned $25.2 million last year – millions more than Gary Loveman, Steve Wynn and Sheldon Adelson. Shrotriya was the highest paid executive in the Las Vegas Valley in 2012.
Longer trip may bring better luck for those looking to use Southwest’s newest option
Monday, March 25, 2013
I was all set to give Southwest Airlines’ Wi-Fi a whirl on a recent flight. I was looking to test-drive the Internet capability of the system and maybe look in on Southwest’s new inflight entertainment options, innovations the company introduced widely last month.
This is what state officials had in mind when they created a $10 million catalyst fund to be used to close deals to persuade companies to bring their operations to Nevada.
Acting on recommendations from the state Gaming Control Board, the commission approved a series of licenses for 888 Holdings, which will partner with Treasure Island to offer online poker.
An executive with the company that owns the Stratosphere hotel-casino said he expects the development of a new Strip resort by the Genting Group will expand the north Strip market and attract new business to the area.
The Small Business Administration, which plays a role in most business loans, last year issued $175 million in loans statewide. That’s up from $167 million in 2011 and $103 million in 2010. But it falls far short of the $277 million the SBA lent in Nevada in 2007.
Tactic meant to embarrass Allegiant doesn’t help quest for better pay for members
Monday, March 18, 2013
I get the role of unions trying to obtain the best contracts for workers. But I have a really hard time understanding the latest tactics by the Transportation Workers Union Local 577, which represents flight attendants for Allegiant Air.
Allegiant Air recently debuted a new line of airplanes that executives say will be more reliable and more efficient. The company, which is based in Las Vegas, parked a freshly painted Airbus A319 twin-engine jet at McCarran International Airport’s D gates to give employees and airport executives a first look at the 156-seat plane.
The state’s new tourism brand will be launched April 9. Former Kentucky State Tourism Director Randy Fiveash explained how that state unveiled its “Unbridled Spirit” campaign with support from every state department, placing marks and logos on letterheads, license plates and state maps.
The chief executive of the XpressWest high-speed rail project has responded to a letter from two congressional budget committee members calling for the rejection of a federal loan critical to the project, saying the information they have was “formulated using outdated information.”
Resorts World Sentosa comes into focus after Genting Group’s decision to build here
Monday, March 11, 2013
When talking about gaming in Singapore, local media — myself included — have focused on Sheldon Adelson’s magnificent Marina Bay Sands. Last week’s surprising announcement that the Genting Group plans to build a 3,500-room megaresort on the Strip will lead us to take a closer look at Singapore’s other casino, which I happened to visit in 2011.
It didn’t take long for the buzz to become a roar after the Genting Group announced plans Monday to develop a 3,500-room resort on the Strip. Here's a look at who stands to gain from the arrival of Resorts World Las Vegas and who stands to lose.