We've have to partially disagree with your contention, on several grounds. One would be that, in 1991, after Steve Wynn had launched the theming craze with The Mirage in 1989, visitation to Las Vegas was 21.3 million. Last year, it was almost double that amount. Nor would we concede that the theming era was "often regarded as a bust," but simply a period of evolution through which the casino industry needed to go before it got to where it is now.
It is inconceivable, in retrospect, to see the industry getting from, say, the Riviera to Bellagio, without the themed phase falling in between, pointing the way forward. (One could argue that themed resorts were nothing new to Las Vegas, when one considers Circus Circus, Caesars Palace, and the Arabian Nights décor of the Sahara.)
While cause-and-effect relationships in Las Vegas visitor traffic are easy to oversimplify, in the year after The Mirage opened, tourism grew from $18 million to just short of $21 million. Gambling revenue also spiked from $3.4 billion to $4.1 billion. But 1991, the year following Circus Circus Enterprises' quickie Mirage wannabe, Excalibur (a much more heavily themed property), saw only a modest uptick in visitation and gambling.
1993 marked the debut of a trio of themed resorts: Circus Circus' Luxor; Wynn's Treasure Island; and MGM Grand's Wizard of Oz-themed MGM Grand … which would be de-themed a mere three years later. Again, there was a huge spike in tourism, going from 23.5 million visitors in 1993, to over 28 million the following year. Gambling revenues increased from $4.7 billion to $5.4 billion, but the failure of gaming winnings to keep pace with tourist traffic may have been what soon spelled the doom of "family-friendly" Las Vegas.
Locals casinos began to get in on the theming act. Boyd Gaming debuted The Orleans in 1996 and Station Casinos followed with Sunset Station – inspired by the Barcelona architecture of Antonio Gaudi – the next year. In 1998, Ameristar debuted its African wildlife-themed property, The Reserve (now Fiesta Henderson), designed by the same Henry Conversano who was responsible for The Mirage.
On the Strip, 1996 saw "the era of affordable luxury" with Monte Carlo, a joint venture of Mirage Resorts and Gold Strike Resorts. A much more heavily themed casino followed in 1997, when Gary Primm teamed with MGM Grand to build New York-New York. During the 1996-98 period, however, tourism volumes were relatively stagnant, while gaming revenue went from $6.1 billion to $7.2 billion.
The last great burst of theming came in 1999, with the rollout of the Venetian, Paris-Las Vegas, and Mandalay Bay (created by Las Vegas Sands, Hilton Gaming, and Circus Circus, respectively). Tourism leapt from 30.5 million in 1998 to 33.8 million in 1999, then 35.8 million in 2000. But once more gaming revenues grew less dramatically, from $7.2 billion to $7.6 billion. The themed-resort craze ended on August 18, 2000, when the Aladdin opened a day late and many dollars short (card counters had a field day with inexperienced dealers). Even before it debuted, co-owners the Sommer Family Trust and London Clubs International were at each others throats during licensing hearings. The casino did so poorly that it broke the back of LCI, as well as the health of its chief executive, Alan Goodenough. The Arabian theme also proved toxic for the megaresort after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror holocaust in New York City and Washington, D.C. It would eventually be de-themed and reinvented as glitzy Planet Hollywood, although some aberrant Arabian architectural details couldn't be easily effaced.
The year 2000 also marked the start of four years of tourism and gambling stagnation in Las Vegas. Whatever propulsion the market gained from a new themed resort was inevitably short-lived. Hotel occupancy and gambling revenues peaked (at $10.9 billion) in 2007.
Then, as Americans found themselves financially overextended and the stock market crashed, "everything tanked." Gaming revenues went into a three-year decline and tourism sputtered. And while visitation is now at an all-time peak, casino winnings ($9.6 billion last year) are still shy of 2007 levels, an apogee that Vegas may never regain, given the spread of regional and tribal casinos, and the ability of Pacific Rim high rollers to play at Vegas-style megaresorts in Macao and Singapore.
So the years of Vegas' greatest prosperity well postdated the theming era and the industry shows little appetite for returning to that direction, with the exception of the diminutive Lucky Dragon hotel-casino and Genting Group's Resorts World Las Vegas. Designed with elaborate chinoiserie by architect Paul Steelman, the latter project aims to lure Chinese players and remind them of home. It even aspires to have a panda habitat, although we're skeptical that the Chinese government will part with the furry critters: Mandalay Bay sought pandas a decade ago and got nowhere, while the public appetite for captive creatures has also waned decidedly in recent years.
So, while Resorts World will be a throwback to themed resorts, other new kids on the block, like The Cosmopolitan, SLS Las Vegas (the former Sahara), James Packer's planned Alon, and the dormant Fontainebleau, all indicate that sleek modernism on the Strip is here to stay.
