This year several Las Vegas resorts will start charging for all parking. With parking lots hitting capacity nationwide resorts, casinos and hotels are all looking at parking as an additional source of revenue. With only a $5 average price difference, customers are turning to valet operations.
The majority of Las Vegas resorts will soon be charging for ALL parking!
There is simply a need for valets almost everywhere. That explains why operators today are customizing their approaches. The goal is to ensure that each customer leaves with nothing but a positive experience. The most competent parking companies are now creating customized greeting procedures to increase customer satisfaction and parking revenue.
Take a look at the new parking structure at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The parking structure will help serve visitor growth and attendance at the company’s nearby resorts and entertainment venues, including the T-mobile arena, The Park retail and restaurant complex, and the new Theater at Monte Carlo. Overnight guests utilizing a self-park facility will have to pay $10. Because of this they expect their valet business to increase significantly.
David Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, was interviewed recently by @howardstutz from the Las Vegas Review-Journal, in the article David pointed out that
“Downtown Las Vegas casinos and casinos in Atlantic City charge customers for parking”.
“The bigger issue is the logistics of moving around 45 million visitors a year,” Schwartz said. “You have to do it differently from when we were moving 20 million visitors a year.”
“The parking process is our customers’ first and last touch-point with us,” Sanders said. “Our guests expect and deserve an enhancement to this aspect of our resort experience. We’ve taken into account our customer feedback and carefully planned these improvements to address some of their most common concerns – challenging navigation and difficulty finding available spaces. We acknowledge that this aspect of our resort experience can be improved, and we’re taking an aggressive approach.”
The parking program is part of MGM’s profit growth initiative that the company announced last year. The idea is to increase cash flow by $300 million annually by 2017.
This just shows the emerging trend of resorts generating profit through their parking programs. There should be a valet podium in front of every parking area with a friendly parking attendant ready and waiting to greet the customer. Not only does a valet eliminate the need of looking for a parking spot, having a security podium provides reassurance to the customer.
