Now every John Q. Public in America knows someone who has died of Covid-19. That someone is erstwhile magician Roy Horn, who died at age 
75 of Coronavirus complications. Horn had been involuntarily retired from show business since 2003 when his and Siegfried Fischbacher‘s white tiger act went tragically awry. We don’t know much about Horn’s tragic demise at this point but the lights of the Las Vegas Strip would surely be dimmed in his honor if there were anybody to see it. As for ourselves, we’ve used Siegfried & Roy (or “Siegmund & Leroy,” as Penn Jilette used to call them) as a bullseye for satire for years but never wanted to write about either of them in the past tense.
* “In the absence of bustling crowds of drunken revelers, packed poker tables and overzealous club promoters, the slogan ‘what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, has never felt more redundant,” reports Agence France Press upon visiting a Strip that is devoid of anyone except security guards, homeless people and “bewildered” tourists. (What we want to know is why the tourists bothered visiting … and where they’re staying?) The ironic upside of a tourist-bereft Strip is that locals, who avoid like the plague except if they work there, are taking advantage of its emptiness to roller-skate, jog and cycle it. “Being around drunk people and belligerent people is not relaxation,” said one biking local. (Pornslappers are not missed in the least.)
One extended-stay hotel that been exempted from the closure order is housing people who have been evicted in the last several weeks, despite foreclosures having supposedly been kiboshed during the crisis. While 
we’ll give Downtown Mayor Carolyn Goodman (I) the benefit of the doubt and say that her heart’s in the right place about the unemployed, there are too many politicians in this country for whom the working classes—and the elderly—are expendable, acceptable sacrifices on the altar of “the economy.” But even if Las Vegas reopened everything wide-out tomorrow, restaurants at full capacity need customers and casinos need gamblers. At a time when coming to Sin City means gambling with your very life, how much “pent-up demand” is out there? That’s the $1 billion question.
Even if domestic travelers return in short order, don’t expect the same of international ones. A United Nations study shows a 22% decline in trans-national tourism in 1Q20 and projects a 58%-78% spiral over the rest of the year. That’s $80 billion in lost exports, too. The percentage change so far has been the worst in the Pacific Rim and Europe, followed by North and South America. If travel restrictions ease by early July, the global damage will be ‘only’ 58%. (Travel was down 57% in March alone.) If it takes until December, look for a 78% plunge. We’re at the worst point right now, as the models show travel cratering in May (possibly) into June, then slowly recovering. The later restrictions are eased, the shallower the comeback.
Reports the United Nations World Tourism Organization, “This is by far the worst crisis that international tourism has faced since records 
began (1950). The impact will be felt to varying degrees in the different global regions and at overlapping times, with Asia and the Pacific expected to rebound first.” Leisure travel, particularly domestic, will return first, business travel last. At least Resorts World Las Vegas can look at this data as a blessing in disguise. Targeted at overseas customers, its oft-pushed-back opening date (mid-2021) virtually ensures it will debut as the market gets better.
* The apparent demise of Las Vegas buffets has claimed three more casualties, all Sweet Tomatoes serve-yourself restaurants. Said CEO John Haywood, “The [FDA] regulations are understandable, but unfortunately, it makes it very difficult to reopen. And I’m not sure the health departments are ever going to allow it.” Despite being antsy to reopen, Treasure Island has filed Clark County paperwork to demolish its buffet. And the beat goes on.
If you are in Las Vegas and are looking for someplace to dine, here’s an evolving list of restaurants that are open or reopening. And if you’re not in Las Vegas but are planning to return soon by air, you’ll be flying the unfriendly skies “though apparently serving ginger ale to first-class passengers was ruled epidemiologically acceptable.” The writer’s conclusion after a couple of testy flights? “The glittering allure of ‘normalcy’ that waits on the other end of these stay-at-home orders is a mirage.”
