The gambling capital of the world is filling up again after the collapse of the covid. But the most respectable visitors are missing, as are employees. This makes it impossible for hotels on the famous neon-strewn Strip to cope with the onslaught of visitors.
As the year draws to a close, Las Vegas begins to evaluate this year’s season. The number of tourists in the mecca of gambling and sin is already approaching pre-pandemic levels, but not quite yet. That’s the challenge for next year, according to Las Vegas tourism officials. According to them, and a series of numbers, this year was a success.
But is there really something to celebrate? The coronavirus pandemic has hit hard a city dependent on tourism (abroad). The so-called Strip, the lively part of Las Vegas Boulevard, stretches for nearly seven kilometers and is lined on both sides by hotels with casinos and thousands of rooms. With the advent of the blockade in March 2020, tourism has declined overnight. The hotels had to close. Often also lay off employees. Some of those they have found work in another sector and do not want to return.
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This is still a problem today. Tourists are slowly returning to the city, but the casino city is severely understaffed. Many restaurants, such as the famous Las Vegas buffets, are closed or only open on weekends. When checking in at the hotel, you need to arm yourself with patience. A half-hour wait at the priority desks is not unusual. “There are few of us here, everyone has to wait. Get back in line,” the Aria hotel receptionist retorts to an angry guest at the priority desk. At the same time, that guest spends thousands to tens of thousands of dollars here every year, otherwise he wouldn’t have the gold card that allows him to use priority counters.
Still not enough
Prices have gone up and quality has gone down. Hotels justify the price increase with the need to raise employee salaries. It’s a bit of a vicious circle. So far, it doesn’t appear that the bag has been ripped off for those interested in the job. Hotel guests already pay 300 crowns for an American Budweiser by the pool. This is at least six times the retail price.
It would be okay if this margin was used for a fair salary for the bartender. But that’s probably not the case, because you need to add at least a 20 percent tip to this price. What if you go to the bar yourself for a beer? Well, because the bartender lives on tips. The hotel pays almost nothing.
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Nearly 3.2 million people visited Las Vegas in August, 6% more than the same month last year, but 11% less than in August 2019. The year 2019 is a kind of barometer for the recovery of the tourism sectoras it was the last full year without any coronavirus-related restrictions.
Although Las Vegas welcomed more than 32 million visitors last year, some segments, including international tourists and convention visitors, still lag behind the numbers in 2019, when 42 million tourists visited Las Vegas. The sooner this happens, the better for the city and region, which are heavily dependent on tourism revenues.
Wealthy Asians are missing
“We have recovered too much from covid in terms of home visitors”, be heard Steve Hill, CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. “We still have something to catch up with international tourists, but this is largely due to the slow opening in Asia.”
Hill hints at a reality that can be felt in local tourist resorts. There are more American tourists here than usual. This changes the general atmosphere in hotels. Also, a problem for local business owners is that many home visitors have deep pockets, so they won’t support the economy of Nevada’s largest city much. For many Americans, a weekend trip to Las Vegas is their only vacation of the year.
In 2019, approximately 5.8 million, or 14%, of visitors came to Las Vegas from overseas. Last year, the share of foreign tourists dropped to just three percent.
Come back in 12 years
For the first eight months of this year in Las Vegas reported 25.2 million visitors, so last year’s 32 million is expected to fall smoothly this year. If the number of visitors doesn’t drop below monthly averages, the city could close 2022 with over 37 million visitors. That would be roughly as many as they arrived in 2010.
Local hotels and other tourism entrepreneurs are looking for reliable international clients, if they don’t return in time Las Vegas will find itself on a downward spiral.
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