SEASON 3: EPISODE 51 | Airdate: 7/2/2021
The drop was stunning. In a matter of weeks, tourism in Las Vegas slumped to a fraction of normal as lockdowns to stop the spread of the coronavirus went into place. Now, more than a year after the resorts on the Strip reopened, things are a lot sunnier with new resorts opening, tourist and convention traffic returning and gaming numbers up.
Nevada Resort Association President Virginia Valentine told Nevada Week that indeed, Las Vegas is back.
Gaming win numbers from the Gaming Control Board showed the state broke a record with $1.23 billion won from gamblers in May, easily beating a record set in October of 2007.
Josh Swissman, founding partner with the gaming and tourism consultant firm The Strategy Organization, called the gaming win numbers “a tremendous indicator” of how the city is doing, right now.
He did note that other indicators of the city’s health are still sluggish including business and convention traffic and international travel, but with patience those parts of the travel industry will return.
Business and gaming reporter at the Las Vegas Bryan Horwath told Nevada Week that people in the gaming and tourism industry are “cautiously optimistic. There are concerns about the rise in COVID-19 cases and the state’s test positivity rate, which indicates the number of coronavirus tests that come back positive compared with the number of tests given.
All panelists agreed that the opening of the new Resorts World hotel-casino on the northern end of the Strip will drive tourism for the whole city and could finally be the property that breathes new life into that side of Las Vegas Boulevard.
