Should be some hot discounts in Las Vegas this summer

Summer in Las Vegas means triple-digit temperatures and torrid travel deals. And this year, the discounts may sizzle.

That’s because, reversing the trend over the last several years, Sin City’s tourist business is slipping. Through March 2008, gaming revenue and hotel rates dipped about 3 percent from the same period last year.

Conventional wisdom blames high oil prices, the mortgage meltdown and a sluggish U.S. economy.

This summer, “I’m predicting the room rates are going to be the lowest in six or seven years,” says Anthony Curtis, president of LasVegasAdvisor.com, a consumer Web site for visitors.

It’s not that tourists have abandoned the gambling and entertainment mecca. More than 9.6 million arrived in the first quarter, a number virtually unchanged from the same period last year.

But in a trend that began in 2007, they spend less while there, says Kris Tibbs, senior research analyst at the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

Alicia Viramontes of Hawthorne, Calif., is one such tourist.

“I couldn’t resist,” she said, explaining why she dropped more than $270 in May on 11th-hour plane tickets to join friends at Harrah’s.

“I just had to get away,” said Viramontes, who works in tech support for a software company. “Vegas is Vegas. Everybody loves it.”

However, she added, “I’m on a little more of a budget this time. My dinners won’t be so extravagant. I’ll have the chicken instead of the steak.”

Paul Callera of Westchester, Calif., who said he goes to Vegas for meal deals, isn’t betting that his gambling friends will hold back.

“If they want to gamble, they’re going to go there,” he said.

These days, though, gamblers aren’t the mainstay of Vegas. Resorts made 58 percent of their money from betting in 1990, but only 42 percent last year, said Bill Lerner, senior gaming and lodging analyst for Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., a top investor in U.S. gaming. The rest came from shows, food, shopping and more.

Unlike Curtis, Lerner doesn’t expect to see rock-bottom hotel rates this summer.

Howard Lefkowitz, president of Vegas.com, which sells Las Vegas travel, also doesn’t forecast record-low rates, although he said the average room rate for advance bookings was recently down 5 percent to 8 percent compared with last year.

Whatever the price picture, “there are always deals to be had,” Lefkowitz said.

Here are some tips for travelers from Lefkowitz, Curtis and Lerner:

Live by the calendar: To get the lowest hotel rates, go when business is slow, such as midweek, later in July or just before the Christmas travel season. Avoid weekends, holidays and dates when big conventions are in town. You can find a convention calendar at www.lasvegasadvisor.com.

Cast a wide net: Bargains show up everywhere, in newspaper ads and on Web sites of casinos, the tourist authority ( www.visitlasvegas.com), www.lasvegasadvisor.com and travel sellers such as www.vegas.com, Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity, Priceline and Hotwire. Curtis said he recently found a 20 percent off coupon for the Border Grill restaurant in a freebie magazine in Vegas.

Get on a list: Casinos regularly send deal offers by e-mail. Sign up for these for free on their Web sites.

Look for extras: Don’t shop just by room price. Many hotels, reluctant to drop rates, instead offer valuable add-ons. This year, “we see more types of deals,” Lefkowitz said. Among ones recently listed on Vegas.com were two-for-one show tickets from the Flamingo and a $25 slots credit at the Venetian.

Go to the fringes: You’ll generally find better room rates in downtown Las Vegas and toward the end of the Strip, rather than the heart of the Strip.