The month of July has marked new records in Las Vegas as the biggest monthly decline in visitor traffic since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported in a press release.

Visitor traffic decreased 5% compared with the same month in 2007, average room rates were down 10% in Las Vegas in the same period while weekend and midweek occupancy rates at the Las Vegas hotels were each down 5% in July. Passenger traffic through McCarranInternationalAirport decreased 9%, same as the number of conventions held in the city during this month.

Gambling profit numbers also flopped and some gaming sectors reached its lowest point since the beginning of the economic recession in the U.S. The Gaming Control Board monthly report revealed that slot players wagered $1.1 billion less on slots in July than the same month a year ago. Only on the Las Vegas Strip casinos, the slot volume was down by half a billion dollars.

The slot volume in Las Vegas fell 12% in July compared with a year ago, the worst decline in the past seven straight months.

On the Strip, the table game volume increased about 5%. This held true for high end as well as typically lower end games. Baccarat play was up 15% and blackjack increased 7%. However, the Strip casinos reported 21% less from table game players in July due some unusual factors including an increase in the percentage of winnings collected by players.

According to Wall Street analysts, if the winning percentages at the tables would have been more typical, the general contraction in gambling revenue reported by the Las Vegas casinos could be considerably less, the analysts said.