[AD1985]

I've heard that Las Vegas is losing its global tourism appeal with the rise of other touristy areas. If that's true, I don't know how the city could even maintain its current economy; it seems to me that if other places take a large bite out out of tourism then Vegas will be forced to shrink and possibly even suffer a Detroit-like fate.

I'm not too keen on other big tourism spots - do you guys feel they're even a true threat?

[las vegas drunk]

Originally Posted by AD1985

I've heard that Las Vegas is losing its global tourism appeal with the rise of other touristy areas. If that's true, I don't know how the city could even maintain its current economy; it seems to me that if other places take a large bite out out of tourism then Vegas will be forced to shrink and possibly even suffer a Detroit-like fate.

I'm not too keen on other big tourism spots - do you guys feel they're even a true threat?

The biggest threat to Las Vegas is not going to be other tourism spots, it is going to be the economy. Once the USA economy tanks, Las Vegas will get hit much harder than other cities since we have a purely service driven economy. I feel we will suffer a Detroit-like fate, and it will not be long before this happens.

[AD1985]

Right but if it were only the economy then Vegas would start another boom cycle in 10-15 years when the economy is healthier than it is now. If other competition is already a threat, then it might be an unrecoverable blow.

[jfkIII]

Originally Posted by AD1985

I've heard that Las Vegas is losing its global tourism appeal with the rise of other touristy areas. If that's true, I don't know how the city could even maintain its current economy; it seems to me that if other places take a large bite out out of tourism then Vegas will be forced to shrink and possibly even suffer a Detroit-like fate.

I'm not too keen on other big tourism spots - do you guys feel they're even a true threat?

Statistics, please.

[mresort]

Do you know why Macau is booming?
It is because China's economy is booming and Chinese people have a lot of money.
I went to Macau last month. In my opinion, everything was much more expensive than Vegas, and the service is a little worse than Vegas too.

Same as the whole country. USA is losing the global appeal with the rise of other countries. USA will be forced to shrink slowly and possibly even suffer an United Kingdom-like fate. USA will not go under, but you need to expect that it won't be as powerful and influential as before.

[MomMom]

Originally Posted by AD1985

I've heard that Las Vegas is losing its global tourism appeal with the rise of other touristy areas. If that's true, I don't know how the city could even maintain its current economy; it seems to me that if other places take a large bite out out of tourism then Vegas will be forced to shrink and possibly even suffer a Detroit-like fate.

I'm not too keen on other big tourism spots - do you guys feel they're even a true threat?

You haven't heard that rumor from anyone credible

The latest stats from the LVCVA show visitor volume increased slightly (only 2%) from May of 2009 at 3,199,719 visitors and May of 2010 at 3,262,831 visitors. Visitor volume was up slightly from May 2009 to May 2010.

Visitation increased (+2.0%) in May as Las Vegas hosted more than 3.2 million visitors during the month. May marks the ninth straight
month of visitor volume matching or exceeding prior year levels.

I don't believe Las Vegas is "losing" it's appeal, it's because folks got themselves in such financial holes they can't afford to come here and spend like they did in the boom time. Once people wise up and live within their means, we'll see a greater increase in visitors and they'll wind up spending more wisely, similiar to what the average tourists are doing now.

But everybody, the world over, dreams of their "Vegas Vacation"

Interesting stats for you...

http://www.lvcva.com/getfile/37/ES-May2010.pdf (broken link)

[hockeygirl4]

Vegas will always have a tourist appeal. There is no place in the world like Las Vegas! People are not traveling here for the same reasons they can't travel to Walt Disney World, or the Caribbean, or other touristy destinations in the world. I think this foreclosure problem we have here makes the city sound like we're all homeless and begging for money and things on the Strip from tourists. It's not like that at all! Like MomMom said, visitor rates are increasing in comparison to last year. Las Vegas is more affordable now than it has been in years past. I read something recently that said hotel rates are at late 1990's - early 2000 prices, so if anything, we're more affordable than other destinations. Vegas is not all about gambling either. Friends of our family are extremely religious and have come out here year after year to enjoy the cuisine, uniqueness of the hotels, and surrounding natural areas of Las Vegas. No need to gamble and throw money away. IMO, if I were not living here, I'd rather spend my money here, than in Disney or some other touristy area. Vegas is aways a fun time and there is something for everyone. Quick comparison - Disney - airfare = about $300.00/person (max), hotel stay on property - $180 - $300/per night, park hopper tickets - $200 per person for a 3-4 day ticket and upwards from there. At least 1-2 meals inside the park - $15 - $30.00 per person for a quick food outlet X amount of park hopper days, plus parking at the parks (unless you use Disney Transportation)! Times that for a family of 4? Wow! Now, Las Vegas, airfare - $350.00/per person (max), hotel stay on the Strip (right now til about September and then again Jan-April) - $60.00 - $180.00 per night depending on the property, free parking, food - $10 - $30.00 per person depending on the restaurant. No park hopper tickets to uy, no parking to pay for, free shows everywhere, no rental car needed necessarily. I'm gonna say Vegas is more affordable.

[von949]

Vegas is losing something but its not global tourism appeal. I still got friends from overseas that save up all year just to come visit me.

[ChrisKLAS]

Is Vegas losing its appeal? I don't think so, but it definitely faces ever-increasing challenges and competition.

International visitorship is at all time highs, so I don't worry about that (at least presently). When I moved here in 2003, as far as international airline service went, we had 4x Virgin Atlantic flights a week from London and 3x weekly JAL service from Tokyo (with a stop in LA).

We now have: daily service to London/Gatwick, daily service to Heathrow, 3x weekly to Paris, 2x weekly to Glasgow, 2x weekly to Frankfurt, 5x weekly to Manila (stops in Vancouver), 1x weekly to Zurich, 4x weekly to Seoul, and 1x weekly to Manchester (going to 3x weekly early next year when Virgin launches that route).

Domestically, one of the biggest issues facing Vegas is the continued expansion of gaming in areas of the country that didn't have it previously. I have lots of family in both Kentucky who all of the sudden, with the legalization of riverboat gambling in Indiana, found themselves within an hours' drive of several casinos. Kentucky now wants in on the action, so once that's approved, they'll likely be even closer. There are situations like this all over the country.

For someone who just likes to go into a casino and play for a few hours, there was a time when Vegas, Reno, or Atlantic City were their only real options. Now that they can drive less than an hour to do the same thing, I do see Vegas losing a substantial amount of that repeat business from those folks.

[Domer22]

There are a couple of wild cards going for Vegas tourism as well, and they both involve trains. High speed train service that connects southern California and Las Vegas is on the horizon (it'll initially be Victorville but should eventually connect to the California population centers within a couple years after the 2014 Victorville completion date), and the proposed monorail addition down to the airport will be very welcome by tourists, especially foreign ones (the monorail company is in chapter 11 right now, but I am guessing this will happen eventually).