The mistake that Vegas casinos are making is to think that Las Vegas
is such an attractive destination in itself that people will put up
with lousy gambling and price gouging just to BE there. Well, in the
first place, as you note, it's a certain amount of hassle to get
there: a long drive from just about anywhere, or the alternative of
enduring airline travel into and out of one of the worst-congested
airports in the country. In the second place, they no longer have
exclusivity as a gambling destination-
consider their "market" have closer-to-home options.
In light of the above, you would think that Vegas casinos would try
to retain a competitive edge in terms of offering the best gambling
value available, but they've done just the opposite--because they
have been temporarily able to sustain a hype-based marketing
campaign that focused on gouging the new crop of equity-refugee baby
boomers flush with cash. This strategy has worked in the short term,
but it cannot be sustained. Once the casino's new class of victims
has spent a couple of trips paying $300/night for rooms, $200/ticket
for shows, $100/meal for food, and on top of that, being nickel-and-
dimed to death at every turn, from the cab ride to the minibar to
the "resort fee" or "energy fee"; once the gambler finds that the
price of his enjoyment is sky-high table minimums at games that have
a higher house percentage than at any time in human history; once
they've been rode hard and put up wet by the casinos, and they take
a sober look at what their fabulous Vegas vacation has COST
them....they won't come back. Ever.
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