Las Vegas Strip January Casino Gambling Revenue Falls 2.5 Percent

(Bloomberg) - Las Vegas Strip gambling revenue fell 2.5 percent in January in the third straight monthly decline as the city faces an uneven recovery after a record gambling slump.

Revenue declined to $482.7 million from $495 million a year earlier,  Nevada’s Gambling Control said in an e-mail today.

Las Vegas is beginning to emerge from its worst decline on record in gambling and conventions, after betting fell more than 9 percent in 2009 and 2008. MGM Resorts International (MGM), Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS), Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) and Caesars Entertainment Corp., the four biggest Las Vegas-based casino owners, have said the worst has passed.

Revenue for all Nevada casinos fell 0.7 percent to $877.4 million in January, the board said. Monthly proceeds for Clark County, which includes downtown Las Vegas as well as the Strip, fell 0.4 percent to $761.4 million.

Convention attendance climbed 13 percent in December from a year earlier, ending the year down 0.4 percent, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority said last month on its website. About 37.3 million people visited the Nevada city in the 12 months through December, a 2.7 percent increase from a year earlier, and average daily room rates at Las Vegas hotels gained 2 percent in 2010.

Passenger traffic at Las Vegas’s McCarran International Airport rose 5 percent in January, according to Clark County Department of Aviation data. Last year passenger traffic fell 1.8 percent. Carriers including United Continental Holdings Inc.’s United Airlines and US Airways Group Inc. have cut flights to the city.

Beth Jenks, Bloomberg News