Las Vegas Strip braces for CityCenter impact
MGM Mirage’s CityCenter is set to open in December and rates are being slashed up and down the Strip.
A night at one of CityCenter’s luxury towers can be had for as little as $129 in mid-December. The average daily room rate in Las Vegas had fallen 25 percent through August.
“People are coming to Vegas, but they’re just smarter and a little bit more finicky about what they spend money on,” admitted Phil Shalala, marketing chief at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
Regional airlines thrive while the big boys cut back
With the recession still taking its toll, airlines are cutting back on capacity and flying with smaller jets.
In survival mode, the major network airlines are cutting capacity by grounding their 100- to 150-seat narrow-body airplanes and, in many cases, replacing them with 50- to 70-seat regional jets or turboprops flown by regional airline affiliates.
While the recession has devastated the balance sheets of most big network airlines, smaller regional airlines everywhere are often finding new opportunities as their airplanes are pressed into service on routes formerly flown by the big guys with the big jets.
High cost of low cost for Europe’s flag carriers
The global recession is affecting Europe’s flag carriers so much that they are turning to the low cost carriers’ way of running their business.
Air France-KLM is among those wising up. The airline is preparing à la carte travel, with separate charges for the likes of food and checked-in bags on domestic and medium-haul routes. But traditional carriers may struggle to emulate the low-cost model of easyJet and Ryanair when they also need to nurse long-haul networks back to health.
One response is charging for the likes of priority boarding, seat allocation and on-board refreshments.
(Photo: http2007/Flickr Creative Commons)
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