"But that hasn't been by chance. We have to be the first destination to be out of (the recession). When we do, Vegas will have 150,000 rooms to fill every night, and that's not going to happen on its own.
"It needs a lot of support."
R&R is again teaming up with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, the city's chief marketing arm, to refine its marketing and advertising strategy to postrecession visitors.
The marketing plan for 2011 will be presented at the Convention and Visitors Authority's board meeting next month. The new, postrecession ads - about $8 million worth for online, print, TV, radio, and billboards - were still being formulated and are set to be introduced in the first quarter of the new year.
The target is clear: men and women, ages 21 to 54, who want to go to Vegas for strictly fun or leisure.
The marketing campaign to lure the business traveler, which also plays on the economic downturn and the value of the Vegas experience, begins in the summer.
"We're tapping the postrecession mind-set," Dondero said. "I wouldn't say 'leery,' but . . . they [the would-be visitors] are better educated. They don't like surprises, which is true on everything from travel to a car. You want to know what you are going to pay, and what the experience is going to be like.
"Obviously, people are much more prudent about their expenditures."
Before a three-day visit to Las Vegas this month, Leah Lee did her homework. The 45-year-old billing consultant from Chicago said she paid close attention to the kinds of deals the Las Vegas casino hotels and airlines were offering.
