Las Vegas Strip Hurting, Locals Prefer the Burbs

The precipitous drop in tourism in Las Vegas has made national headlines, and a gaming analyst reveals that the locals prefer the more affordable accommodations available just outside the Las Vegas Strip, only adding to the Strip’s struggling foot traffic.

Suburban Migration

It was once an affordable vacation as long as one’s gambling budget was adhered to, but now, the Las Vegas Strip has become the lap of luxury for those with corporate expense accounts and bloated budgets.

We should also note that Las Vegas is no longer the exclusive domain of legal gambling. Casinos have cropped up all over the nation, and sports betting can easily be done on a mobile device in most states.

Still, there is nothing like Vegas, but some are insisting that the bordering areas that house casinos have become the preferred destination of choice. Howard Stutz, a gaming industry insider who has covered Las Vegas for four decades, said most locals feel the Strip is overpriced.

Many of the demographics show a shift away from the Strip properties to the suburban areas that offer free parking, no resort fees, and lower prices on everything ranging from rooms to dinners.

Stutz believes the Strip operators will have to consider wooing the average customer back and not relying on the big spenders to cover costs and maintain profits.

Nevada relies on that revenue to generate taxes.

State Treasurer Zach Conine stated, “We use that money to pay for all sorts of things, right? That’s the money that we use to make sure that schools are properly funded. That’s the money that we’ve used to grow the rainy-day fund to more than $1.2 billion; that is money that allows us to continue functioning as a state without having to raise taxes on Nevadans.”

Bots of Fun

The city’s oldest gaming venue, the Golden Gate Casino in downtown Las Vegas, has made a dramatic shift from live dealers to a virtual casino floor. Owner Derek Stevens said the move from live dealers to bots has nearly doubled financial projections.

The dramatic shift away from human dealers was originally implemented during the pandemic, but Stevens has taken those strategies and doubled down, saving labor costs and aiming his strategy toward a younger crowd that has grown up on technology.

Stevens has not ruled out using any live dealers, understanding that some customers may enjoy the connection with a human being versus a bot. He said that this recent shift to technology is more of an enhancement rather than a replacement of human labor.