According to Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority data, the first four months of this year showed a decrease in the overall number of visitors. Mark Wayman, a recruiter for executives in the gaming and casino industries, told Business Insider in May that Las Vegas bookings through the summer are “the worst I’ve ever seen.”
Air traffic into Harry Reid International Airport is also trending downward, as domestic travel for the first half of 2025 was down 4% compared to last year.
Alternate link: https://archive.ph/z9oWV
We were in Las Vegas a couple of months ago and the prices were beyond belief. Two pastries and a bottle of water at the Bellagio were $27. Ferris wheel tickets were $30 each. A movie at the Sphere was $95. The food, even at highly rated restaurants wasn’t all that good while still being very expensive. We’re happy to spend more while on vacation, but there is no way this place is worth anywhere near what they are charging.
Las Vegas is now a prime example of enshittification. The Bellagio’s fountain show has been shortened to 6 minutes and is a shadow of the previously impressive show. They’ve removed the lighting from their famous Chihuli glass ceiling. The city and the hotels have removed all public seating so you can’t just wander around without spending hours on your feet or visiting one of those expensive, mediocre restaurants. (The Venetian was a welcome exception to this.)
Las Vegas used to be a fun place to do a bit of gambling while enjoying lots of other activities without being fleeced. Not anymore.
At some point they broke the compact. You come, you get a $30-per-night hotel and a $8 steak dinner because the rest of the money is going into the machines/tables. That’s why so many of the attractions used to be the gawkable buildings and public shows-- you could still enjoy them if you had blown your budget.
I guess they pivoted away, but to what? There are whales who want a $5000-per-night suite but you can’t fill an entire 30-story building with them (especially when there are 50 such buildings within walking distance all chasing them)
I went in May and even cheap meals were over $10, the low-mid priced Fremont Street hotel was around a hundred bucks a night, and the one show I went to was 1/3 full probably because it was $75 for an act that’s been running for decades. I budgeted $1000 to gamble but ended up only dropping 350 because it felt like it wasn’t much I couldn’t see in the local Native-reservation casino.
I will say nothing but good things for the Pinball Hall of Fame though.
It became corporate thats what happened. About 15 years ago I took a cab in Vegas. My driver was a long since retired back up singer. He told me stories of working with all sorts of Vegas acts, Sinatra and so on.
He then got a bit wistful about the old times. He said he missed old Vegas. He missed the mob. He said when the mob ran Vegas you knew where you stood and the mob knew to simply take a little off the top year after year.
Then he said the corporations moved in. And everyyear they squeeze. Take more and more, it never stops. They are the ones who invited families in and squeezed some more. Raised the prices on everything, made the odds worse if the could on slots, built giant building and increased the prices for rent and nickle and dimed every single service they could.
And year after year it was never enough, they just kept squeezing and increasing prices.
When the mob looks like the picture of piousness in a story, you know it’s bad.
Of course, you also know that just by the fact that corporations are involved.
Corporate America is it’s own mob
That didn’t happen in 4 months though. I wonder what changed, hmmmm.
I think a tipping point has been reached.
Really? There couldn’t be any other reasons?
Why don’t you enlighten us with your insight?
International tourism
https://wttc.org/news/us-economy-set-to-lose-12-5bn-in-international-traveler-spend-this-year