On the Call: MGM Mirage CEO Jim Murren

Part of the struggle for Las Vegas casinos to overcome is eroding convention business. Companies have canceled meetings as they tighten spending and seek to avoid bad blood with shareholders or a bad image with others over meeting in the town known worldwide as Sin City.

Conventions and business meetings typically fill midweek nights at large resorts, with weekends mostly booked by tourists, who tend to pay lower room rates. But resorts have cut prices severely midweek just to keep rooms filled.

Casino operators MGM Mirage, Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Harrah's Entertainment have been reporting that meeting planners have brightened recently on Las Vegas, which they hope will mean more business and let them raise rates to more profitable levels.

During Thursday's conference call, MGM Mirage CEO Jim Murren discussed how cancellations have affected his company and whether price is a key concern for corporate clients.

QUESTION: When you talk to convention people and meeting planners, who typically are very price-sensitive, what is the hook? And how much of a hurdle is perception? And are you able to make up for that with price?

ANSWER: Many of the dates that people had wanted in the past were just not available, or the space or the amenities, they just were not available.

And because of cancellations that occurred last year that affected occupancy of conventions this year and in the early part of next year, they're starting to get more of the environment they want. ...

We've used our amenities more, and I think we have more of them than any other convention market in the country, rather than just pure price. ... So clearly this is an opportunity to build some business, re-establish some relationships that we've had, and we've been taking some significant conventions from competitors here in Las Vegas and more importantly, from competitors in markets like San Francisco, Los Angeles, Southern California in general, Texas, Arizona, and even parts as far away as Chicago or New York.

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