Bob,
It's almost like as you say "they" made up the figures hoping to fool the public into thinking that going to Las Vegas OR whatever party place was THE thing to do. I know here in Vegas the prices were WAY out of line. I got an offer in the mail the other day from the Monte Carlo to stay there New Year's weekend for $149 night! A year ago they would have wanted 10 times that amount.
Andy - Las Vegas