LAS VEGAS (AP) – In a city built on luring tourists with cheap thrills and free cocktails, a big part of the Las Vegas Strip will soon slash away its most basic freebie: parking.
MGM Resorts International announced Friday that it will become the first major casino company to start charging visitors for parking this year. The move could bring in millions of dollars annually and dramatically change a tourism hotspot that increasingly caters to visitors who come for pricey attractions besides gambling.
Both local residents and drive-in visitors had grown accustomed to the perk of free parking when most big-city venues attach a fee.
Sin City’s largest hotel-casino operator said it will charge $10 or less for overnight self-parking at most of its Strip properties starting this spring, coinciding with the April opening of the Las Vegas-based company’s T-Mobile Arena.
MGM Resorts has 35,310 rooms and 37,000 parking spots on the Strip, which come at a premium during major events. The parking fees will come at Mandalay Bay, Delano, Luxor, Excalibur, Monte Carlo, New York-New York, Vdara, Aria, Bellagio, The Mirage and MGM Grand.