The glut of hotel rooms in Las Vegas has led to “some screaming deals out there to go to Vegas,” according to Orbitz Worldwide Inc. Chief Executive Officer Barney Harford. “There’s been a lot of construction activity in terms of building out new hotels,” Mr. Hartford continued. “That was happening in the run-up to this tough economic environment, so capacity was moving in one direction and then as demand started to go downwards, you really felt a challenge.”

Las Vegas added about 8,000 hotel rooms in 2008, bringing the total to 140,000. With two major casino/resorts expected to open this year, that number will only increase. Other Las Vegas Strip developers have suspended construction on four projects that would have added an additional 6,900 rooms and condos.

According to Rossi Ralenkotter, chief executive office of the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority, visits to Las Vegas are expected to decline 3 percent to 4 percent this year.  Airline flight capacity in to Las Vegas remains almost 15 percent less than a year ago, Mr. Ralenkotter said. At the same time, Las Vegas developers have been preparing to open more than 13,000 new hotel rooms in 2009.

Gambling revenue at Las Vegas Strip casinos dropped 15 percent in January, and 19 percent in Atlantic city in February as the recession tightened its group on consumer travel and gambling spending.

Mr. Hartford said ““People are really trading up to four-star and five-star properties, because the folks are going to go down for a long weekend or something, and they can afford to do that at the current rates.”

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