More than 30 years ago, Life magazine took a look at the burgeoning little desert town of Las Vegas and wondered if it wasn't overbuilt. The year was 1955 and five new resort hotels had just opened, prompting the magazine to question where they would get people to fill them. ``Has Las Vegas pushed its luck too far?'' Life asked. History has proven doubters to be wrong. Las Vegas has grown from a dusty town of a few resorts into a booming metropolis of more than 600,000 people, with nearly 60,000 hotel and motel rooms to accomodate tourists. Now, as Las Vegas undergoes one of the most ambitious of its periodic building booms, there are few who believe that overbuilding is a problem. Tourism is growing and the gaming and resort industries are attempting to capitalize on the trend. ``There is still a tremendous amount of demand out there that hasn't been satisified,'' said Rossi Ralenkotter, director of marketing for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. ``We're in a very strong growth pattern and all indications are that it will continue.'' Nearly 20,000 new hotel rooms either are under construction or awaiting groundbreaking, as resorts compete to add rooms they hope will bring in even more tourists and gamblers in the near future. Part of that optimism is based on figures showing hotels averaged 90.2 percent occupancy during 1987. Such extremely high rates meant potential guests often were turned away by a lack of rooms: on weekends, it is nearly impossible to get a room and on three-day holiday weekends it's even worse. Visitor volume nearly has doubled in the last 12 years, with an estimated 17 million tourists each expected to spend an average of 2-3 days in Las Vegas during 1988. Gaming revenues kept pace, growing 14 percent in 1987 to a record $2.74 billion in southern Nevada. ``We're penetrating markets we've never penetrated before,'' said Dave Verbon, publicity director at the Riviera Hotel. ``There are vast numbers of people out there we never tried to reach before and now we're going after them and getting them.'' Already boasting the world's two largest resort hotels, Las Vegas soon will have five hotel-casinos with more than 3,000 rooms apiece. Two resorts _ the Riviera and the Flamingo Hilton _ are about to begin work on expansions that will bring them to more than 4,000 rooms apiece. The Riviera opened a new 1,000-room highrise March 1 and plans to begin construction of a 1,700-room tower in the fall. ``You have to build towers to have a very high volume of business to drive a large casino with a large number of slot machines and blackjack tables,'' said Verbon. ``We think there are enough potential customers to support these huge hotels.'' The centerpiece of the new construction is the Golden Nugget, a massive resort rising from a desert parcel adjacent to Caesars Palace. When finished sometime late next year, the $550 million resort will have 3,200 guest rooms set in a watery tropical setting that hotel officials claim will be like nothing Las Vegas has ever seen. ``It's really on a completely different plane in terms of what we presently have,'' said Nugget President Bobby Baldwin. ``It's very difficult to compare the new Nugget to anything.'' Baldwin says he has few worries that the Nugget will be able to fill its rooms with gamblers and tourists. The company's downtown resort regularly sells out its rooms. ``We're very bullish,'' he said. ``Tour and travel continues to grow and the individual traveler market continues to expand, particularly from Southern California. International business has also expanded in the last few months and we hope to see that continue.'' The tourism economy has been helped by the growth in three-day weekends and a national trend toward mini-vacations of 2-3 days. Las Vegas has also been very successful in landing conventions, which attracted 1.6 million people to the city in 1987. Part of the Las Vegas lure also comes from room rates that average $45 a night, far below the $100 or more charged by non-gaming hotels in other cities. ``It's the bargain aspect, the ability to have a very enjoyable convention or vacation visit at far less expense than any other destination,'' said Ralenkotter. The city's hotels in the past four to five years have begun exploiting the vast middle-class and tourism markets they once eschewed in favor of attracting a handful of high-rolling gamblers. The expanded customer base, hotel operators believe, gives them protection against a recession or sudden rise in fuel prices that could have a negative impact on tourism levels. In the early 1980s, a national recession combined with high fuel prices and the legalization of gambling in Atlantic City stopped the Las Vegas growth rate in its tracks. ``In good times everybody does pretty well and the better operators do even better,'' said Baldwin. ``In bad times good operators don't do quite as well but they still do well. The best operators do great in both times.''
In 1955 Time magazine wondered if Las Vegas was n't overbuilt . More than 50 years later the city has grown from a few resorts to a booming metropolis of more than 5000 people and nearly 60,000 hotel and motel rooms . Nearly 20,000 new hotel rooms are either under construction or awaiting groundbreaking . Figures show that 90.2 percent occupancy during 1987 . This caused potential guest to be turned away especially on holiday weekends . Visitors nearly doubled in the last 12 years with and estimated 17 million tourist expected in 1988 . Part of the Las Vegas lure also comes from room rates that average $ 45 a night .