Currently, contradictory reports are being published: On one side, there are news reports about very high turnovers in Las Vegas casinos. On the other hand, there are now reports that a hotel and casino operator is not only laying off employees but continuing to keep casinos closed.
July Was the Highest-Revenue Month in Las Vegas
According to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, more than 600 million was generated in Nevada casinos in the month of July.
Admittedly, this is a drop in revenue compared to previous years.
However, if this sum is compared to the previous months of this year, there is a significant increase in revenue.
Since many casinos were closed for weeks and months and that operations first must settle down again, casino operators can be quite satisfied.
The weakest months in terms of sales were April and May.
These reported a drop in sales of over 99 percent – in July, it was only 26 percent compared to previous years.
According to an interesting study, visitors in July came from almost every state in the United States.
While the largest number of visitors were from California, other states were also represented.
Thus, they were primarily locals – the number of tourists from other countries dropped sharply.
Legalized gambling has been taking place in Las Vegas since 1931.
In 1941, the first casino-hotel was opened, albeit a short distance outside the city.
Over the years, Las Vegas was able to become the Eldorado of gambling and recorded 42 million visitors in 2019.
Due to the Corona pandemic, this number dropped significantly in 2020.
This decline must be remedied as soon as possible, since Las Vegas lives primarily from gambling.
True, conventions, concerts and various championships are also held in this city. Nevertheless, it used to be that visitors came for the casinos.
According to statistics, a visitor spends an average of 3.7 days in Las Vegas.
MGM Lays Off More Than 18,000 Employees
Although the revenue trend is positive, one operator is not at all satisfied: MGM wants or needs to lay off more than 18,000 employees.
This group operates casinos and hotels not only in Nevada, but in several USA states.
In Las Vegas, there are the Bellagio, the MGM Grand and the Mirage.
All casinos were closed during the Corona pandemic and 62,000 employees were put on forced leave.
Now, a large number of these have to be laid off.
The main reason for this action is the drop in revenue.
Most of the closed casinos are now open again.
However, the current visitor numbers still do not match the earlier figures.
Another reason lies in the fact that in the USA, according to a law, employees must be dismissed under certain circumstances: Anyone who has been put on forced leave and cannot return to work after six months must be terminated.
Another reason for the decline in visitor numbers is the travel restriction that remains in place.
Of course, not only Americans but many tourists from other countries flocked to Las Vegas in recent years.
As long as the travel restrictions remain in place, all casinos in the U.S. will have to reckon with a drop in revenue.
In addition, casinos are only allowed to take in half as many visitors as before the Corona pandemic.
MGM Casino in Las Vegas
This may also be one reason why an MGM casino in Las Vegas remains closed.
Furthermore, the hotels operated by MGM are also operating at lower occupancy rates than before.
As a result, casino employees are not the only ones affected by a layoff: On convention weekends, Las Vegas hotels were operating at 100 percent capacity.
MGM recorded an occupancy rate of just under 43 percent in recent months.
The group tried to change this fact with dumping prices, but with moderate success.