CNBC – Whether traveling with tight pockets or loosely tossing around cash, visitors to Las Vegas can find the ultimate playground for adults. From high-end shops and penthouse suites to day clubs and pool parties, they spend tens of billions of dollars in total here a year, with the younger demographic dropping less on casino tables and ponying up more to party in clubs.
“I think the younger generation is a little bit more entertainment focused and less focused on gambling than the older generation,” said Stephen P.A. Brown, the director of the Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Nearly 40 million visitors to Vegas last year dished out a total of $27.4 billion across the city, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
Yet money spent on nongaming activities since the Great Recession is recovering faster than gaming revenue, according to the CBER.
Last year, gross gaming revenue on the Strip was $6.5 billion, according to the Nevada Gaming Commission. And travelers on average spent nearly 1½ times more on food and beverage, which includes many clubbing expenses, than on gambling.
