Story on Vegas downturn mentions Mr. Curtis

Good reporting! https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/has-hell-frozen-over-las-vegas-tourism-in-trouble-20779043.php

Interesting article and as I read it, 2 thoughts came to mind:

1) could the downturn possibly be just seasonal?  It might pick back up as fall approaches along with the football season and all the betting options just for that.  

2)  as gaming & casinos have expanded across the country, it's easier to notice all the expenses and obstacles involved in a LV visit.  I don't regret any of my 25 trips there.  But getting out of the travel routine can make getting back into it seem so much more overwhelming.

                Tim

Good article, written by a Las Vegas local!

Thanks for article.Stay on strip with Cesar's comps.Visit downtown every visit.Its time casinos give us some discounts.LVA works hard every year to help out with

coupon.

Very good article.  I'm finding that rates are changing daily.  I'm planning to go in August before my upcoming knee surgery so I can use my birthday offers.  I could never do that when I taught.  I've been checking the rates on the remodeled king room high floor with a mountain view at the Rio.  I plan on using my LVA coupon.  Yesterday, the room I was looking at was $63.70 per night.  Today for the same days and same room type, the price is $43.40.  That's a 32% decrease in one day.  

There will be a seasonal upturn when football season starts--there always is--but the very recent downturn is quite unusual, as usually there's a slowdown before July as the WSOP peters out and the weather gets horrible. We saw that, but there's been another subsequent slowdown as well.

One factor I've been wondering about is the Real ID requirement to fly (at all). Of course, anyone planning to visit months in advance would have gotten one long ago if they needed to fly, but I'm thinking of the spur of the moment crowd. "The airfare from Armpit Falls to Vegas is so low, I might pop over there next week. The Golden Commode has a smokin' room deal." "Do you have a Real ID?" "A what, now?"

So maybe X number of potential Vegas visitors are just taking the beer cooler out to Lake Crappie instead?

Also, this is skirting the edge of the taboo, but I'll mention it anyway (blasphemer! Stone him!); the Trumpiffs and fear of inflation/recession are probably having an effect. In times of economic uncertainty--which sure as hell describes 2025 so far--discretionary spending is the first to be curtailed.

Also, negative press about the most egregious aspects of "the gouge" hasn't helped. Things like the $26 bottle of water have had an outsized effect--though, realistically, if you stay at the Aria, you kind of deserve what you get, as you've already established yourself as a member of the lights-cigars-with-$100-bills crowd. But the gouge, like anything else, has a tipping point. People hear this, they figure--rightly so --that they're going to encounter similar crap all over Vegas 

 One would have to be an idiot and obtuse to ignore the  REAL reason for the current downtrend, with no immediate remedy in sight, --- which is the price/cost of everything in Vegas.  It is just that simple.

One would have to be an idiot and obtuse to not realize that Vegas prices have been extremely high for the last several years, but that there's something much different about this summer. The prices haven't kept people away since the pandemic--until now. It is just that simple.

YouTube influencer hits every nail on the downturn

THis is a really good video that sums up just about everything that is pissing everyone off about Vegas right now.