USA - Welcoming news for the meetings industry, the US$3.9bn Cosmopolitan hotel in Las Vegas, is set to open in December. However, its competitors will feel loss in business, says the Union Gaming Group (UGG).
The UGG claims the new development, which will open around two-thirds of its 3,000 rooms by the end of the year, could trim as much as 5.5 per cent ($74.1m) from 2011’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation for MGM Resorts International.
This comes at a time when the ‘convention city’ has seen a drastic reduction in leisure and business spending, and occupancy, over the past two years. The average daily room rate for the first six months of the year has been down more than 27 per cent compared to 2007.
However, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority says the number of Las Vegas hotel rooms was up 5.3 per cent from the previous year at 148,524.
News agency Reuters says the partially-built Fontainebleau is expected to remain on hold until the market recovers.
