Visitors dropped for a 6th straight month in Las Vegas | Hacker News Reader

Visitors dropped for a 6th straight month in Las Vegas

cbsnews.com

30 pointsdonsupreme17 comments

I keep seeing articles about this recently, as I'm sure many other people have.

The common response is to point out that, current political environment aside, it's because Vegas has become far more expensive in recent years.

In other words, they've decided to start targeting more wealthy customers.

So it doesn't matter if visitor numbers have dropped (not to the people running Vegas anyway). It only matters if profits have dropped. And I haven't seen any reports on this so far. Maybe profits are growing or stable?

The article says profit has risen slightly compared to last year July. But they also mention several examples with new perks that are definitely not targeting healthy travellers (like free parking, food credits, ...)

I just checked hotel prices and it does look damn cheap compared to anywhere in Europe. But I guess that's not what makes it expensive

> But I guess that's not what makes it expensive

I went for a niche conference a few weeks ago which was held at a lower-end 'budget' casino hotel off the strip and the actual room price per night was more than 2.5 times the relatively reasonable-seeming room rate I booked under due to resort fees, taxes and other bullshit.

Don't forget that going to or leaving your hotel room usually requires walking through half the casino floor. Hospitality means something different in Vegas.

> So it doesn't matter if visitor numbers have dropped

Large corporate casino owners who can still benefit by making up the shortfall in visitors from high rollers who spend (and lose) bigger chunks of money gambling aren't the bulk of the overall Vegas tourist economy - which is mostly employees, suppliers and service providers whose income is driven more by "number of visitors" than "spend per visitor".

And it matters to the visitors who can't afford to go there anymore.

> And it matters to the visitors who can't afford to go there anymore.

I guess the capitalist answer to this is for them to go start their own Vegas.

With Blackjack and... waitaminute...

There are already many vacation alternatives to Vegas whether for gamblers, for those seeking entertainment/dining or just for family getaways. Vegas has always had an iffy value proposition. It's become a major city that's not near anything nor especially on the way to anywhere which had no reason before gambling to exist in that location.

In the last 20 years, two long-term trends are making Vegas less attractive. The increasing proliferation of gambling alternatives from indigenous casinos, riverboats, poker parlors, online casinos, etc, as well as the broad decline of big "destination" trade shows and conferences people are willing to get on an airplane for. To me, Vegas has always been an odd mix of upsides and downsides. It can easily get congested and over-crowded and quickly become unfun. Now that they're pricing themselves out of the market, people are choosing better alternatives.

This is all because online casinos have become more accessible. And I don’t just mean for players (who can simply use a VPN to play even if casinos are restricted in their area) and no longer need to leave home to spin the slots. I’m talking about the business side. I recently wrote an article on 2025–2030 trends, and online gambling is growing at lightning speed. Just look at LCB https://lcb.org - every month 15–30 new casinos are added. And that’s only the licensed ones; imagine how many more don’t get listed there. These days, anyone can launch an online casino. For example, this offer https://2wpower.com/en/gamessystems shows you can have a fully working project in just 3–5 weeks, as long as the budget allows. And there are plenty of similar solutions. If you do the math, 30 new sites a month means around 360 a year. If so many are being launched, that clearly means there’s demand. And that’s exactly why land-based casinos are losing audiences - only those who can afford it and really enjoy the vibe of a real casino are sticking around.

Was just there a week ago, Vegas has become insanely expensive. Why must it be an eye watering bill to go hangout in the desert, eat, gamble a bit, and see a show? It's a bit sad, Vegas used to be more fun, but I also noticed the casinos were barren compared to my last visit 5 years ago.

The net-net is I'd rather go somewhere else next time.

I remember considering to move there for a while 12 years ago, with cost of living being a major motivation. Now the rentals are almost on par pricewise with what you'd see in SF or NYC.

Absolutely not true. My friends moved there less than a year ago and got a huge townhouse with multiple bedrooms for $2000/month.

Friends and I were going to go for a football game, make a weekend out of it. Prices were just outrageous.

I wonder if its a generational thing or at least a failure to market to a new generation, i know Vegas by reputation but what does it actually offer? 9/10 of the top destinations on TripAdvisor for Vegas are to leave Vegas....

Gambling? We've been able to do that via our phones since the mid 2010s.

Collect an interesting variety on venereal diseases? Same, smartphone compatible for a decade or more.

Celebrity fronted restaurants? Mr Ramsey will ship his slop directly to my door in 48 hours or less.

If forced to travel to the USA a team of marketing grads haven't made it clear to me why i should go to Vegas.

Authenticity is the new currency, one that a living paradise of artificiality cannot cash out on.

But it sure does help tip the scale if it's feeling too expensive.

So you'll get a lot more people contented, in a shallow sense, by their phones. Not wholy satisfied but enough to not go use or travel to the real thing for now.

I think it will be a widening divide as well thanks to wealth inequality.

It's basically Disney World for adults. The environment and architecture are unlike anywhere else in the USA. It's worth it to walk the Strip at least once and walk through the different casinos/hotels. I went there last year and I really enjoyed the Sphere and Atomic Museum. There are just a lot of different activities and places to see to serve as amusement.

I'm not sure if it's worth it to go for multiple visits unless you are really into gambling. Gambling on phones is not the same as doing it in person.

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