The recession-plagued decline in Nevada gambling may have come to an end at last, with more improvement reported by the Nevada Gaming Control Board for December, where Las Vegas Strip casino gambling revenue rose 3.6 percent, bringing the full-year gain to 5.1 percent for a second annual increase.
Strip betting revenue rose to $518.4 million over December 2010. For the full year, Strip casinos won $6.07 billion, from $5.78 billion in 2010. Strip casino revenues climbed 4.1 percent in 2010, after record declines of more than 9 percent in 2008 and 2009.
Revenue for all Nevada casinos increased 2.1 percent in December and 2.8 percent over the FY 2011, the board said. Proceeds for Clark County, which includes downtown Las Vegas as well as the Strip, rose 1.2 percent for the month and 3.5 percent for the year.
Passenger traffic at Las Vegas’s McCarran International Airport rose 4.4 percent in the first 11 months of 2011, according to Clark County Department of Aviation data. The airport counted 38.3 million arrivals and departures.