As the doom and gloom surrounding the casino industry continues unabated it is interesting to see that the much vaunted CityCentre Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas is set to open on time later this year with an estimated 12,000 new jobs. The project cost $9.1 billion to complete and is set to rejuvenate the Las Vegas strip which has been under severe pressure for sometime. So are we starting to see a recovery in the casino sector?
While we await confirmation of figures for the Christmas and New Year period many analysts are talking about a more upbeat climate and figures which should beat earlier forecast. If this is the case then we may be seeing the signs of a base for the future, and more importantly a halt to the fall in business levels of late. If we see some follow-through on the expected figures we can probably expect a sharp rebound in the share prices of some of the more casino/leisure-based companies quoted on the US stock market which have collapsed over the last few months.
It is interesting to see that despite some of the larger projects in the Far East and other parts of the world being put on hold a $9.1 billion venture in the US, the heart of the casino industry, is still going ahead as planned.