Question of the Day - 02 December 2017

Considering that nearly 43 million people visited Las Vegas last year — 42,936,109, to be exact — the notion that 2% of them ascended the Stratosphere (or patronized its casino floor) doesn't strike us as particularly far-fetched.

As regards other casinos, MGM Resorts International’s Yvette Monet said, “We generally are not counting all of the foot traffic at the resorts. We estimate that tens of thousands of patrons walk through the doors of these resorts each week.”

That was as close to candor as we got, since most of the casino companies we approached ran and hid from your question. Presumably, they regard foot traffic as proprietary information and wouldn’t like to disclose anything that made them potentially less appealing than the competition.

Similarly, according to the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority’s Amanda Arenstsen, stats on foot traffic aren't available, though room occupancy in Las Vegas last year stood at 89%. 

That includes all hotels and motels across the greater Las Vegas region, but one has to conclude that a preponderance of that was taking place at the megaresorts along the Las Vegas Strip (or just north of it, in the Stratosphere’s case) at an average room rate of $133.87.

As for the number of visitors to the Stratosphere pod, it might be closer to double what the Bloomberg articles stated. The pod, which opened in 1996, welcomed its 40 millionth paying customer in 2014. (The perks for being visitor number 40,000,000 included $1,149 in free slot play and a comped dinner at the revolving Top of the World restaurant.) So, 40 million divided by 18 years comes to 2.222 million per year. Of course, the annual numbers were no doubt higher in earlier years, when most visitors were seeing the place for the first time, but the average is good enough for comparison purposes.

In the end, lthough Stratosphere visionary Bob Stupak (1942-2009) didn’t live to see it, what was once derided as “Stupak’s Stump” and the “Tower of Bobel” has gone on to become one of Las Vegas’ must-see tourist attractions.