negative effects of tourism in las vegas

Tourism Study Chronicles Misery Pandemic Inflicted On Las Vegas

Masked revelers on the Strip ring out 2020, a year that saw the pandemic decimate the Las Vegas tourism industry.

A new report detailing the pandemic’s impact on Las Vegas tourism minces few words when it comes to the pain inflicted on Southern Nevada’s economic driver.

With phrases like “travel industry collapsed,” “indelible imprint,” “a 44.5 percent drop in employment,” “shortfalls have persisted,” the study for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority paints a grim picture of Southern Nevada’s tourism-based economy.

"There's no doubt this latest economic downturn was the steepest that we've experienced here in Southern Nevada," said Brian Gordon, a principal at the consulting firm Applied Analysis, which prepared the report.

The 25-page study says the pandemic led to led to a 55 percent drop in Las Vegas visitor volume to 19 million, the lowest annual total since 1989. Convention business also fell to its lowest level in 21 years.

Gordon said the steep decline has been followed by a sharp bounce back, saying, “We dropped harder, but we're recovering quicker."

Gaming revenues have rebounded and many employers report challenges in hiring , but Gordon told State of Nevada there's remains "a long way to go."

“About two-thirds of all the jobs that have yet to come back are focused specifically in the leisure and hospitality industry,” he said. “That's a pretty significant number, and that that does have a ripple effect throughout the economy.

“We have the highest share of employees in the tourism industry” among large cities that attract a lot of travelers, such as Orlando, San Diego, and Los Angeles, Gordon said, “so it is subject to the ups and downs of more broad travel decisions.”

Gordon said that reliance on tourism reflects the success Southern Nevada has had drawing leisure and convention travelers, something that needs to be kept in mind amid calls for more economic diversification.

“Going forward, it's important not to forget what got us here in terms of the growth that Southern Nevada has experienced, the economic prosperity that's developed,” he said. “There is a lot of economic opportunity that comes with the leisure and hospitality industry.”

Gordon said many of the changes wrought by the pandemic — such as check-in kiosks and cashless concessions — will remain when COVID-19 departs because they lower costs.

“My sense is that resort property operators will be focused on maintaining these top efficiency levels as well as mitigating human interaction on a go-forward basis, he said.

A return to normalcy for the industry might take until the end of 2022 to reach, he said, but the fast-changing nature of the pandemic makes predictions difficult.

Gordon said he is watching the numbers on: the return of convention business; international visitors; and passengers going through McCarran International Airport. Those travelers, he said, typically spend more than those who drive in from Los Angeles.

“I think we're seeing more cost-conscious consumers coming in from California and making their way along the highway," he said.

Brian Gordon , principal, Applied Analysis

LVCVA Research Reports

Covid-19 impact on the southern nevada tourism industry - june 2021.

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Economic Impact Driven by Las Vegas Tourism Industry Hits Record High $79.3 Billion in 2022

New report reveals how hard pandemic hit Las Vegas tourism industry

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Southern Nevada's tourism industry took a big hit in 2020 and now we're learning just how big. A new report is revealing the pandemic's impact on visitation to Las Vegas and it's not pretty.

The 22-page report was commissioned by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and prepared by Applied Analysis, a Las Vegas-based consulting firm. It reveals what many already suspected, that 2020 was arguably Las Vegas' worst economic year ever, and it's all thanks to COVID-19.

The report includes some eye-opening statistics about Southern Nevada's tourism industry in 2020 compared to 2019. Employment fell nearly 45% and visitor volume fell 55%. In 2019, visitors spending had an economic output of more than $60 billion in southern Nevada. Last year, that number was cut by more than half, down to $29.6 billion. Convention attendance fell to its lowest level in 21 years.

But since then, our city has bounced back in a big way. Anthony Curtis of Las Vegas Advisor calls the comeback swift and spectacular.

"If you look at gaming numbers from April, I think it was up 28,000%," he said with a chuckle. "Well, that’s not hard when there was hardly any revenue whatsoever last April. But it just shows you how quickly things are bouncing back. People want to come back to Vegas. They want to get out. They want to do things. It’s a little bit scary that things are kind of regressing, they’re kind of going back a little bit. We’ve got another mask mandate here, so we will see what that does. But overall, until now, the recovery has been spectacular," said Curtis.

Curtis did mention there's one main area where Southern Nevada is still lagging behind pre-pandemic levels.

"Probably mid-week visitation because when you're really seeing the town packed, both with the official numbers and when you just walk the streets, is on weekends. And weekdays are getting there, but they still have a ways to go and that’s probably what we’re missing the most. And that has a lot to do with conventions and tourists flying in from overseas," said Curtis.

If you'd like to read the full report, click this link.

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The hellish future of Las Vegas in the climate crisis: 'A place where we never go outside'

Las Vegas is the fastest-warming city in the United States. The city’s poorest residents are most at risk in the heat

T he Clark county death investigator Jill Roberts vividly recalls the sunny 115F (46C) afternoon last summer when she entered a Las Vegas home with no functional air conditioning. The indoor heat felt even worse than the broiling temperature outside. She climbed up the stairs, through thick, stifling air, landing in a third-story bedroom where the resident had died in sweltering conditions. The room had no fan and the door was shut. It felt as if it couldn’t get any hotter.

“Our elements are unforgiving. Especially on those 115F days, it doesn’t take a lot,” Roberts told the Guardian. “In that situation I’ll go stand in the sun in the 115F heat to do my paperwork as opposed to staying in the house because it’s that hot.”

The coroner’s office in Clark county, which encompasses Las Vegas, often records heat as a contributing factor to accidental deaths. There are hikers succumbing to lethal temperatures in the surrounding desert and heat-related deaths in cars and homes when occupants forgo cooling. Roberts has seen homeless people with post-mortem burns from collapsing on hot streets.

And it will get worse. Las Vegas is the fastest-warming city in the United States, its temperatures having risen 5.76F since 1970. A June study of coroner data by the Las Vegas-based Desert Research Institute found a correlation between heatwaves and heat-related deaths in southern Nevada, both of which, they say, are on the rise. And a recent Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) report warns that without global action to reduce carbon emissions, the city will probably experience 96 days of heat above 100F by the end of the century, including 60 days over 105F, and seven “off the chart” days that would break the current heat index.

Every city has its own challenges in adapting to climate change, even those that are supposedly accustomed to severe heat. In Las Vegas, a laissez-faire attitude toward growth has allowed high temperatures to become even more deadly, and the scorching heat now threatens the city’s basic functionality.

Like the tourist guzzling alcohol by the resort pool, smiling and flirting until he faints from dehydration, southern Nevada has welcomed unfettered development since the 1930s – the advent of the home cooling era – when its population began to double in size nearly every decade despite limited water resources and increased drought. The resorts have long been the economic driver. Over a third of the area’s workforce is supported by the 40 million visitors a year who descend on their gargantuan hotel towers, bustling casinos and massive convention halls. And as tourism grows, so does the population.

During the boom years before the 2008 housing crisis, hundreds of miles of desert landscape were paved over with heat-absorbing asphalt and concrete, worsening a “heat island” effect in the cauldron-like valley. Outward growth also led to vehicles motoring further across the sprawling metropolis, increasing heat-trapping carbon emissions.

Now, with growth having continued each year since 2011, and new home developments returning to boom-era levels, Sin City is reckoning with a future that looks downright hellish.

“The thing about Vegas is, we always do feast and famine,” said Tick Segerblom, a former state senator who now sits on the Clark county commission, which governs the Las Vegas Valley. “We never bother to say, ‘Where are we going? What are we doing?’”

During summer months , when Las Vegas city buses break down notoriously often , many pedestrians carry umbrellas to protect their skin, and those without cover often “shadow walk”, following the shade of palm trees, signs and buildings to avoid direct exposure to a sunshine that can cause humans to overheat.

The city’s poorest residents are most at risk. Fans and cooling systems can save lives, said Jill Roberts, the coroner office investigator, “but some people just don’t have the funds to fix their air conditioning or have working equipment”.

Hundreds of homeless people living in the city choose to camp in storm drains rather than sleep above ground – another dystopian irony to the city’s reputation for glitz and glamor. Those who dislike the tunnels often have to work hard to stay cool. Marcy Averett, 49, and her husband spend 15 hours a day collecting recyclables. But each day before they set off, they buy ice.

“I have to have cold water. I don’t know how people do it with hot water,” she told the Guardian on an August afternoon as she dragged a shopping cart filled with aluminum cans out of the blistering sun, into the shade of a highway overpass. An orange cooler hung from the side of her cart. Averett had a spray bottle to mist her face and neck, and applied lip balm as we spoke. “I put medicated moisturizer on my lips constantly, all day every day, and my lips are still cracked. It’s this heat.”

Like many other rapidly warming cities across the United States , Vegas has only recently begun to reckon with its future.

“The real question is, do we want a place where we just go from our houses to our cars to our offices, and never go outside because it’s too hot?” Segerblom, the former state senator, asked. “How many months of the year is that tenable?”

Rachel Licker of the Union of Concerned Scientists warned that southern Nevada’s productivity and essential services will become increasingly stressed as temperatures rise – construction projects will slow or stop more frequently to ensure worker safety; police and postal workers may be affected; and since studies show schoolchildren perform worse as temperatures rise, teachers may need to adjust testing schedules and standards for days if not months at a time.

Meanwhile, power surges may become more common if increased demand overwhelms electrical grids, leaving the people most sensitive to heat illness such as children and the elderly without a cooling system when it’s needed most.

“Even though people in Las Vegas might be used to high levels of heat, it’s going to get even hotter, and we don’t know how much they’re going to be able to withstand,” Licker said.

As Las Vegas Valley reaches its limits, many in the community believe now is an opportune time to contemplate the future of the city. “What do we want to be when we grow up?” said Segerblom. “Is there a way to manage this valley that’s good for the quality of life of the citizens of Nevada, not just for the tourists and hotels?”

He noted that while state and federal policies get the most media attention, municipal governments can affect the environment just as well. Planting more native trees and shrubs, enforcing energy-efficient building standards, zoning to promote upward rather than outward growth, and developing alternatives to blacktop roads and concrete sidewalks are all policies that could have a major impact.

To lessen its own carbon footprint, the city of Las Vegas began powering all government buildings and streetlights with renewable energy in 2016. The state’s largest energy consumers, the multi-thousand room hotels and casinos on the Strip, have also made environmental sustainability a priority in recent years. MGM Resorts has over 20 acres of solar panels atop the Mandalay Bay convention center, and much of the electricity flowing through properties like the Bellagio, Luxor and New York, New York comes from a solar array in the Mojave Desert.

“We do feel it’s our responsibility to find innovative ways to use less energy and procure clean energy for our resorts,” said Mark Campbell, MGM Resorts’ executive director of sustainability. The company also donates unserved banquet food to a local food bank and uses smart thermostats to avoid cooling vacant rooms.

For their part, Nevada voters passed a ballot initiative requiring state utilities to get 50% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2030. As a constitutional amendment, the proposal needs to pass a second time to take effect. But state lawmakers made that vote moot by adopting the standards on their own, on Earth Day 2019, through a legislative bill that received unanimous support. Nevada is rare state now in which reducing carbon emissions has become a bipartisan concern.

In seeking more access to clean energy sources, the state hopes to get ahead of the dilemma posed by longer and more intensive air conditioning seasons that amount to more greenhouse gas emissions spewed into the air.

“Heat is currently the top killer for weather-related hazards in the United States,” said Licker. “Those kinds of numbers would just get worse if we’re headed toward really significant climate change.”

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A Year Without Travel

How Bad Was 2020 for Tourism? Look at the Numbers.

The dramatic effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the travel industry and beyond are made clear in six charts.

By Stephen Hiltner and Lalena Fisher

Numbers alone cannot capture the scope of the losses that have mounted in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Data sets are crude tools for plumbing the depth of human suffering , or the immensity of our collective grief .

But numbers can help us comprehend the scale of certain losses — particularly in the travel industry , which in 2020 experienced a staggering collapse.

Around the world, international arrivals are estimated to have dropped to 381 million in 2020, down from 1.461 billion in 2019 — a 74 percent decline . In countries whose economies are heavily reliant on tourism , the precipitous drop in visitors was, and remains, devastating.

According to recent figures from the United Nations World Tourism Organization, the decline in international travel in 2020 resulted in an estimated loss of $1.3 trillion in global export revenues. As the agency notes, this figure is more than 11 times the loss that occurred in 2009 as a result of the global economic crisis.

The following charts — which address changes in international arrivals, emissions, air travel, the cruise industry and car travel — offer a broad overview of the effects of the coronavirus pandemic within the travel industry and beyond.

International arrivals in tourism-dependent economies

Macau, a top gambling destination, is highly dependent on travelers, as measured by the share

of its G.D.P. that is generated by tourism. Its international visitor numbers plummeted in 2020:

ARRIVALS IN 2020

The following countries are also among the world’s most dependent on travel, in terms of both their

G.D.P. and their international tourism receipts as a percent of total exports:

U.S. Virgin Islands

The Bahamas

Antigua and Barbuda

Saint Lucia

Cook Islands

0.5 million

Macau, a gambling destination, is dependent on travelers,

as measured by the share of its G.D.P. that is generated by

tourism. Its international visitor numbers plummeted in 2020:

The following countries are also among the world’s most

dependent on travel, in terms of both their G.D.P. and their

international tourism receipts as a percent of total exports:

Before the pandemic, tourism accounted for one out of every 10 jobs around the world. In many places, though, travel plays an even greater role in the local economy.

Consider the Maldives, where in recent years international tourism has accounted for around two-thirds of the country’s G.D.P. , when considering direct and indirect contributions.

As lockdowns fell into place worldwide, international arrivals in the Maldives plunged; from April through September of 2020, they were down 97 percent compared to the same period in 2019. Throughout all of 2020, arrivals were down by more than 67 percent compared with 2019. (Arrival numbers slowly improved after the country reopened in July; the government, eager to promote tourism and mitigate losses, lured travelers with marketing campaigns and even courted influencers with paid junkets .)

Similar developments played out in places such as Macau, Aruba and the Bahamas: shutdowns in February and March, followed by incremental increases later in the year.

The economic effect of travel-related declines has been stunning. In Macau, for example, the G.D.P. contracted by more than 50 percent in 2020.

And the effects could be long-lasting; in some areas, travel is not expected to return to pre-pandemic levels until 2024.

Travelers passing through T.S.A. airport security checkpoints

The pandemic upended commercial aviation. One way to visualize the effect of lockdowns on air travel is to consider the number of passengers screened on a daily basis at Transportation Security Administration checkpoints.

Traveler screenings plunged in March before hitting a low point on April 14, when 87,534 passengers were screened — a 96 percent decline as compared with the same date in 2019.

Numbers have risen relatively steadily since then, though today the screening figures still sit at less than half of what they were a year earlier.

According to the International Air Transport Association, an airline trade group, global passenger traffic in 2020 fell by 65.9 percent as compared to 2019, the largest year-on-year decline in aviation history.

Daily carbon dioxide emissions from aviation

3.0 million metric tons

Another way to visualize the drop-off in air travel last year is to consider the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted by aircraft around the world.

According to figures from Carbon Monitor , an international initiative that provides estimates of daily CO2 emissions, worldwide emissions from aviation fell by nearly 50 percent last year — to around 500 million metric tons of CO2, down from around 1 billion metric tons in 2019. (Those numbers are expected to rebound, though the timing will depend largely on how long corporate and international travel remain sidelined .)

All told, CO2 emissions from fossil fuels dropped by 2.6 billion metric tons in 2020, a 7 percent reduction from 2019, driven in large part by transportation declines.

Yearly revenues of three of the biggest cruise lines

$20 billion

ROYAL CARIBBEAN

Few industries played as central and public a role in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic as did the major cruise lines — beginning with the outbreak aboard the Diamond Princess .

In a scathing rebuke of the industry issued in July, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention blamed cruise companies for widespread transmission of the virus, pointing to 99 outbreaks aboard 123 cruise ships in U.S. waters alone.

While precise passenger data for 2020 is not yet available, the publicly disclosed revenues — which include ticket sales and onboard purchases — from three of the largest cruise lines offer a dramatic narrative: strong revenues in the early months of 2020, followed by a steep decline.

Third-quarter revenues for Carnival Corporation, the industry’s biggest player, showed a year-to-year decline of 99.5 percent — to $31 million in 2020, down from $6.5 billion in 2019.

The outlook remains bleak for the early months of 2021: For now, most cruise lines have canceled all sailings into May or June.

Long-distance car travel, before and during the pandemic

Driving trips at least 50 miles from home, with stays of two hours or more, based on a daily index from

mobile location data.

Trips at least 50 miles from home, with stays of two hours

or more, based on a daily index from mobile location data.

Air travel, both international and domestic, was markedly curtailed by the pandemic. But how was car travel affected?

One way to measure the change is to look at the Daily Travel Index compiled by Arrivalist , a company that uses mobile location data to measure consumer road trips of 50 miles or more in all 50 U.S. states.

The figures tell the story of a rebound that’s slightly stronger than that of air travel: a sharp drop in March and April, as state and local restrictions fell into place , followed by a gradual rise to around 80 percent of 2019 levels.

Difference in visits to four popular national parks, 2019 to 2020

1.0 MILLION

GREAT SMOKY

GRAND CANYON

CUYAHOGA VALLEY

YELLOWSTONE

1.0 million

Another way to consider car travel in 2020 — and domestic travel in the U.S. more broadly — is to look at the visitation numbers for America’s national parks.

Over all, national park visitation decreased by 28 percent in 2020 — to 237 million visitors, down from 327.5 million in 2019, largely because of temporary park closures and pandemic-related capacity restrictions.

The caveat, though, is that several parks saw record numbers of visitors in the second half of the year, as a wave of travel-starved tourists began looking for safe and responsible forms of recreation.

Consider the figures for recreational visits at Yellowstone National Park. After a shutdown in April, monthly visitation at the park quickly rose above 2019 levels. The months of September and October of 2020 were both the busiest on record, with numbers in October surpassing the previous monthly record by 43 percent .

Some national parks located near cities served as convenient recreational escapes throughout the pandemic. At Cuyahoga Valley National Park, 2020 numbers exceeded 2019 numbers from March through December. At Great Smoky Mountains National Park, numbers surged after a 46-day closure in the spring and partial closures through August; between June and December, the park saw one million additional visits compared to the same time period in 2019.

Stephen Hiltner is an editor on the Travel desk. You can follow his work on Instagram and Twitter . More about Stephen Hiltner

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“You never know”: Work and precarity in Las Vegas before and during COVID-19

Subscribe to the center for economic security and opportunity newsletter, richard v. reeves , richard v. reeves president - american institute for boys and men @richardvreeves morgan welch , and morgan welch senior research assistant & project coordinator - center on children and families, economic studies, brookings institution hannah van drie hannah van drie former senior center coordinator - center on children & families, future of the middle class initiative.

July 20, 2021

• 32 min read

This report was developed for our partners at Brookings Mountain West; the original version was published on their site on July 19, 2021.

In this brief we examine work and work-based policies in Las Vegas, Nevada – a theme that emerged strongly from focus group data collected in the fall of 2019. The middle-class Americans we talked with were concerned about upward mobility, the changing landscape of work as a result of automation and skills training, scheduling uncertainty, and employee benefits like time off and paid leave. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted and exacerbated these pre-existing issues for many workers. Much of the policy agenda in the last year has been understandably reactionary, as policymakers addressed immediate issues such as unemployment insurance, keeping workers safe, and emergency economic relief. More than a year later, it’s helpful to return to the concerns that were bubbling to the surface in 2019 – and reflect on what’s left to do, structurally, to strengthen our system, support workers, and move forward from the pandemic. To this end, we suggest several policy solutions – such as raising the minimum wage, investing in workers’ skills and education, providing paid leave, and encouraging flexibility.

Introduction

Precarity pre-covid-19, unemployment during the covid-19 recession, the road to recovery, next steps and policy solutions.

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In fall of 2019, the Brookings Future of the Middle Class Initiative conducted focus groups 1 with over 120 middle-class Americans across five locations: Wichita, Kansas, Houston, Texas, Prince George’s County, Maryland, Central Pennsylvania, and Las Vegas, Nevada, with the goal of gaining a fuller understanding of the issues facing the American middle class.

This report specifically draws on the focus group data collected in Las Vegas, which is the 28th largest metropolitan area in the country, with racial diversity matching that expected for the nation by the year 2060. 2 In Las Vegas, we conducted six focus groups with over 60 participants. Participation in the focus groups was limited to working age (25-64 years) individuals in the United States.

Las Vegas remains an interesting place for policy research for a few reasons; first, the metro area is very diverse, with significant Hispanic or Latino (33%), Black or African American (12%), and Asian (7%) populations. 3 In Las Vegas, focus groups were conducted with Black, Hispanic, and white women, as well as Hispanic men. The participants in the focus groups were stratified by race and gender which provided the opportunity to examine responses through a race/gender lens.

Second, the COVID-19 pandemic adversely affected many of the industries that serve as the backbone of Las Vegas’ economy – service and gig work, leisure, and hospitality – making it an interesting case study of how these industries could bounce back post-COVID. Muro, Maxim, & Whiton (2020) show that 24.2 million Americans work in industries considered at highest risk from COVID-19, of which “leisure and hospitality” accounts for 16.3 million jobs. Within the Las Vegas Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), 342,050 jobs were expected to be at risk of suffering disruption as a result of the global pandemic – representing 33.8% of the workforce in industries under considerable risk. 4

Lastly, while the desire for more work-time flexibility and personal control over time was raised in focus groups in all the sites, in the Las Vegas focus groups, work and workplace issues were especially salient. Participants raised issues surrounding employment laws, workplace policies, scheduling practices, prospects for mobility, and job security. To this end, Las Vegas presents a unique opportunity to examine how workplace policies and precarity around employment and scheduling impact marginalized groups in these particular industries.

In Las Vegas, the middle-class Americans we talked with felt a lack of control over their time, which often stemmed from current workplace practices surrounding short-notice scheduling, a lack of paid leave, limited access to remote work, as well as employment laws in the state of Nevada. They expressed difficulty in finding jobs that paid well, and often perceived few prospects for upward mobility. Many felt as though their outdated skills, the return on investment for education, and changes to the future of work such as automation, left them with little financial security or opportunity. The themes that arose from the focus groups are explored in the sections that follow.

Lack of Control

Many of the participants we talked with expressed a lack of control over their own employment and time; 5 they were often at the whim of their employers. They told stories of surprise scheduling with no notice, unexpected lay-offs, and high expectations coupled with low pay. Many felt like they had to show up and always be on their toes, or ready with a back-up option—a side gig or another employment opportunity—if something were to happen.

Nevada is an “at-will” employment state, 6 meaning that an employer is able to let go of an employee for any reason, without notice, and without needing to have just cause for the decision. Nevada is also a right-to-work state, 7 which means that employees are not required to join a union as a condition of employment. The impact of these laws was evident from our conversations. As Lilly, who is currently studying and working in Las Vegas, pointed out, “They can fire you for any reason. They don’t need a reason.” Caroline shared “I haven’t had the best experiences with employment [in Las Vegas]. I just don’t see any future [here]…In Vegas… they can fire you for anything.” Similar sentiments were shared by many other focus group members.

The participants also describe situations where they were let go without notice, which left them feeling helpless with nowhere to turn, as they were not protected by a union or by the law in these circumstances. Fiona, who works in advertisement and marketing, shared, “…my current employer recently purchased another company, and with that comes the possibility of 800 layoffs.” She added that this uncertainty about her future makes her “nervous” about having to “survive unemployment.” In the same focus group, Kim shared a similar experience with being let go unexpectedly: “I was out sick, and they called me, and they were like, ‘We’re going to have to let you go.’”

As Lilly explained, there are not many options for workers when they are let go in Nevada. She stated, “I didn’t have money to hire [an employment lawyer], but they usually rule in favor of the employer, not the employee.” This constant anxiety led some to seek back-up options to feel secure in their employment. Martin, a father to young children, mentioned that he is “perfectly happy” with what he is doing for work now and that he is on good terms with his employer. However, given past experiences, he says he “always stays on Craigslist looking for another job, just to be prepared,” adding that workers need to stay on their toes “just in case” because “you never know” if your employment will be terminated.

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Upward Mobility, Skills Acquisition, and Automation

As we documented in a previous analysis, 8 the middle class has experienced sluggish wage growth, near-stagnant wage increases, and declining odds of upward mobility since the late 1970’s. Much of this trend can be attributed to worker power—or lack thereof—but automation, skills, and education also play a role. In our focus groups, we heard concerns about upward mobility, promotions and fair wages, competition in the job market due to the demand for higher skills, and the threat of automation displacing workers or wiping out entire industries.

Elenore and others in the focus group described limited opportunities for promotion, which left them and their families feeling discouraged. Dissatisfaction with pay was also a common refrain. Elenore’s mother is in a “supervisory role,” which Elenore described was asking her to “do X, Y, and Z and more.” As for her responsibilities, “she opens, she closes, and she’s training people, and she’s still getting paid at the capacity of an entry-level worker.” When the moderator asked if participants felt that they and their families were financially secure at this current time, Teresa, who holds an associate’s degree and works in home care, replied, “They don’t pay you enough. I’m applying [for jobs] and I have a phenomenal resume.” Teresa stated that she is competitive in the job market and feels as though she could get any of the jobs she’s applying for and has received great feedback: “Everyone’s calling me” to interview, as she put it. But she described being struck by the low wages, exclaiming that they are “crazy” for offering such a low salary for her level of experience.

Mariana, who studied to become a paralegal, expressed, “It scares me that there’s so many companies out there that are kind of shutting down on jobs wherever you go. My skills, they’re outdated compared to what is needed to keep up with in the world right now.” This concern over skills acquisition was echoed across all focus groups in Las Vegas as participants worried about the job market, and the type of return on education that they could expect, not just for themselves, but also for their close friends and family.

Automation and technology have the potential to create jobs and increase productivity and efficiency, but also present the risk of displacing workers, especially workers 9 in the production, food service, and transportation sectors. When asked if he had any current or future concerns, Evan, who drives for Uber, replied, “Yes…Uber eventually is going to be eliminated…my concerns are with technology […] we have self-driving cars now, so I don’t think we’re going to be here that long.” Discussion surrounding upward mobility, skills acquisition, and the threat of automation revealed deep-seated anxieties over participants’ futures and financial security.

Scheduling, Time Off, and Paid Leave

Participants also pointed to short notice scheduling and the lack of paid time off as a hindrance to their ability to plan ahead, attend important life events, and ultimately feel in control of their time. 10 Over a quarter 11 of employees in the leisure and hospitality industry receive their schedules less than a week in advance. Workers in these industries may also be 12 put on call or taken off the schedule at the last minute – which makes it difficult to even predict how many hours they may be working per week. Maria detailed an experience she had while working in retail, she says:

“[retail]…it’s the kind of job where they require overtime, and then somebody calls out and you’re the ‘go to’ guy you’re going to get called in. And it doesn’t matter if that day someone passed away or someone had a birthday. I mean, last year my grandmother passed away, and I was called into work, and I couldn’t go to her funeral because I had bills to pay.”

When we talked with these middle-class Americans, Nevada did not have a state-wide paid leave policy. The federal FMLA 13 guarantees unpaid time off for most employees in the U.S., but at the time of our focus groups, only 12 states and the District of Columbia, 14 as well as a few jurisdictions, mandated that employers in their region provide paid leave. While many employers do offer paid leave to their employees, when examining the breakdown of paid leave by wage, occupation, and employer size, we see wide gaps in access and availability. For example, only 61% of workers in services such as food and beverage preparation, cleaning and building service, and personal services—barbers, flight attendants, and childcare workers—have access to paid sick leave. For other types of paid leave, such as paid parental leave, access is even more sparse for those in these service industries, with only 14% having access to paid parental leave in 2020. As we discuss below, in late-2019, Nevada implemented a paid leave policy which took effect on January 1, 2020.

Kristina, who was pregnant with her second child when we spoke with her, recounted her own experience in Nevada before the paid leave policy took effect, stating, “the only thing that they provide or allow in Nevada is six weeks of unpaid leave.” Thankfully, Kristina was able to piece together benefits from her employer to make it work. She added that she is “really excited” because her job recently allowed employees to work remotely part of the time, which will allow her to be home with her three-year-old and her newborn, and “still make money.” However, to make this transition realistic, and to take time to recover after the birth of her child, Kristina stated that, “I’m using up my own vacation time…I’m using up my own sick time.”

In March 2020, the pandemic drastically affected the leisure and hospitality industries that serve as the backbone of the Las Vegas economy. In the depths of the pandemic, Nevada’s unemployment rate peaked at 28.2% in May 2020, nearly double the national rate of 14.7% for the same month. 15 According to 2019 BLS data, 16 more than a quarter of Las Vegas residents are employed in these industries, and from March 2020 to April 2020, employment in these sectors decreased from 290,400 to 140,000, reaching a low of 127,000 in May 2020.

The trends in the leisure and hospitality industry in Las Vegas mirror those across the U.S. Employment for workers in this sector took a major hit at the start of the pandemic and still has not recovered.

Six months later, the pandemic’s effects on the leisure and hospitality industry were clear. Travel and tourism had taken a significant hit. By November 2020, only 47% 17 of Las Vegas’s hotel or motel rooms were occupied, a significant decrease from November 2019 when 88% of the rooms were filled. In the same time period, Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport saw 59% fewer travelers, 18 and the city had 52% fewer tourists.

In the Las Vegas metropolitan area, the unemployment rates for all industries skyrocketed, increasing from 3.6% in February 2020 to 6.9% in March and jumping to 33.3% in April 2020, significantly higher than the national average of 14.8%. By November 2020, when we start to see some levelling out of the unemployment trends, Las Vegas had experienced an almost 8 percentage point 19 change in unemployment from the previous year.

Klein and Smith 20 suggest that Las Vegas, and other hard-hit cities, are likely experiencing negative spillover effects. They explain, “In the aggregate, the devastation of a core industry can mean the decline of others nearby, like with manufacturing in the Rust Belt in the second half of the twentieth century. As a result, metropolitan areas concentrated in hard-hit industries are likely to see negative ripple effects throughout their economy (lower tax revenue, less spending, etc.).” They use this example to illustrate the situation in Las Vegas: an unemployed casino worker is less likely to buy new clothes. Spillover effects mean that because of the severe effect on employment in the leisure and hospitality industry, the entire economy has suffered.

These effects are especially worrisome for groups that already faced challenges pre-pandemic. Klein and Smith’s research 21 also found that harder hit metropolitan areas tend to have larger Hispanic or Latino populations, which means the pandemic is exacerbating existing disparities like the racial wealth gap for Hispanic or Latino families. Furthermore, the Treasury Department denied stimulus checks 22 to people married to immigrants without a social security number and to children with a non-citizen parent. This decision disproportionately hurt Latino families, creating further inequalities.

COVID-19 did not only lead to unemployment. Drs. Elizabeth Ananant and Anna Gassman-Pines 23 sent daily text messages to 1,000 workers in the retail, food, service, and hospitality industries with young children from February to April 2020. While not localized to Las Vegas, their study began before the pandemic, and their research shows how the pandemic affected the jobs of workers in this sector. They find that by the end of March 2020, 70% of workers were working less: 41% were laid off and 31% had their hours reduced. This shows how underemployment and reduced hours were also by-products of the pandemic. Coupled with a lack of paid sick leave, hazard pay, consistent scheduling, and other benefits – issues that existed pre-pandemic – low-wage workers faced difficult, unsustainable, and sometimes dangerous conditions when they were able to work.

Now, a year later, Las Vegas may be on the road to recovery. As of March 2021, the unemployment rate reached a post-pandemic low of 8.8%, but it was still more than double what it was a year ago, in February 2020. Nevada’s current rate is also higher than the U.S. unemployment rate of 6.1%. 24 This recovery lines up with the slower recovery rate of the leisure and hospitality across the U.S. In April 2021, unemployment in leisure and hospitality industries sits at almost 11%, 25 nearly double the overall unemployment rate.

Tourism is also beginning to recover in Las Vegas. While the number of tourists was still down about 27% from pre-pandemic levels, 2.6 million visitors 26 traveled to the city in April 2020, a 15.4% increase since March 2021, and more than double the 1.25 million visitors who came in December 2020. Casinos in Vegas also reported the second month in a row of winnings more than $1 billion, a sign that people are feeling more comfortable returning to pre-pandemic leisure activities.

The pandemic has highlighted and exacerbated pre-existing concerns for many workers. Much of the policy agenda in the last year has been understandably reactionary, as policymakers were forced to address immediate issues such as unemployment insurance, keeping workers safe, and emergency economic relief. As we’ve shown, there are undoubtedly positive signals that the Las Vegas economy is returning to normal. A new “right to return” law also provides assurance that workers in the leisure and travel industry displaced by the recession can get their old jobs back. 27 The question is, should the old “normal” be the goal, or can we do better?

For the remainder of this brief, we discuss potential policy solutions to these issues that were pertinent pre-COVID, including mobility and wages, skills and education, scheduling, and paid leave. At the onset of the pandemic, these types of issues were brought to the forefront. Many were astounded by the fragility of our system, which proved unable to stand up to the pandemic. More than a year later, it is helpful to return to the concerns that were bubbling to the surface in 2019 – and reflect on what’s left to do, structurally, to strengthen our system, support workers, and move forward from this pandemic.

Raising the Minimum Wage

In 2019, Nevada passed Assembly Bill 456 28 which provides a $0.75 increase 29 in the minimum wage each year until it reaches $12 per hour for employees who do not receive qualifying health benefits from their employers and $11 per hour for employees who do receive these benefits from their employers. In July 2021, the minimum wage in Nevada will increase to $9.75 and $8.75 per hour for employees in the two respective groups. This means that Nevada’s minimum wage will reach the $12 and $11 per hour thresholds, depending on employees’ health benefits, by 2024. This is in line with what we suggest federally in A New Contract with the Middle Class—a $12 per hour minimum wage floor. 30

Alongside the increase in minimum wage, Nevada is also increasing its overtime thresholds. 31 The state is one of the only states that recognizes both daily and weekly overtime, meaning that employees making under $14.63 per hour without health benefits and under $13.13 per hour with health benefits can earn overtime pay on days that they work more than 8 hours as well as during weeks where they work more than 40 hours. Instituting these policies across the U.S. are small ways that can help workers fully recover from the pandemic.

Paid Leave for Any Purpose

We heard many participants in focus groups share that before the pandemic they had little control over their time or schedules. This has been a problem around the country during COVID-19, as many workers navigated needing to stay home from work because of the virus without access to paid time off. The U.S. instituted a temporary policy through the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) 32 that allocated a certain number of days off to eligible workers. The American Rescue Plan Act 33 restarted and expanded several of these policies but did not make them permanent. Nevada is already a step ahead of the federal government, with a state-wide paid leave policy 34 implemented on January 1, 2020, just before the pandemic. Their paid leave policy grants eligible employees up to 5 days of paid leave per year, which can be used for any purpose. While 5 days of leave is better than none, it is still significantly less time than the CDC recommended workers quarantine after exposure to COVID-19. Additionally, Nevada’s current policy 35 does not apply to temporary, seasonal, or on-call employees, companies with less than 50 employees, or companies that are under two years old.

While we argue that this policy should be expanded, it does provide an interesting framework for a federal policy. As we argue in A New Contract with the Middle Class , requiring all employers to provide at least 20 days of paid leave 36 to all employees would go a long way toward improving employee work-life balance, giving workers more control over their schedules, and ensuring that they, and their families, remain in good health. In combination with the 20 days of paid leave, we propose a paid leave account to adequately support new parents with the birth of a child. The account would be situated within the existing social security system, would be linked to wages, and would cover up to 12 weeks of leave.

Training and Education

We also propose a lifelong learning account 37 that could be used for living expenses and tuition for an approved program of education or training to upgrade skills. While research suggests 38 that automation is unlikely to lead to mass unemployment, it is still expected to displace some workers in the short run. Lifelong learning accounts coupled with tax incentives for corporations to train their workers would support continued training. It would also prepare workers for this transition, preventing them from having to go on unemployment or piecing together low-paying jobs to make a living.

As higher education an important factor in upward mobility, 39 we also propose making post-secondary education more affordable for the middle class. Our proposal, “Scholarships for Service,” 40 would allow students to attend two-years at a post-secondary institution for free in exchange for one year of national service. This will allow young Americans from all walks of life to obtain a college degree, which is needed to stay competitive in today’s job market, without accumulating too much debt.

Remote Work and Flexibility

The COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing lock-down proved that remote work is possible and much more effective than previously perceived. Prior to the pandemic, remote work 41 was rare and usually concentrated in high-paying industries, such as management, business, and financial services. Over 60% 42 of working Americans in the top 25% of the earnings distribution were able to work from home in 2017 and 2018, compared to 9% in the bottom quartile. If remote work does in fact expand more permanently as a result of the pandemic, it would provide greater flexibility for those who work in jobs where telework is feasible.

Other workers, such as those in leisure and hospitality, construction, and transportation, are much less likely to have that option. These workers are also the most likely 43 to experience unpredictable work and short notice scheduling. Requiring that such workers be provided with their schedules at least two weeks in advance is one solution as proposed in the Schedules That Work Act, 44 first introduced in 2015 by Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Rosa DeLauro. These are only a selection of policies that could ease the time squeeze. Ultimately, giving workers more control over their hours is a high priority among the middle-class Americans we spoke with.

If we want work to be better after the pandemic, it is important to understand the concerns of workers before it. Middle-class Americans in Las Vegas put concerns about work – flexibility, security, prospects, pay – at the heart of our focus group discussions. Policies to make work more rewarding, more stable, more secure and with more prospects of upwards mobility are now on the table. For example, raising the minimum wage, investing in workers’ skills and education, providing paid leave, and encouraging fair flexibility offer the potential for a better working life for middle-class workers in Las Vegas, but also across America.

Full PDF version of this report available  here .

The authors thank William E. Brown, Jr., UNLV Director of Brookings Mountain West, and Caitlin J. Saladino, Director of Strategic Development at Brookings Mountain West, for their input and Tiffany N. Ford, Post-Doctoral Fellow at Brookings, and Aaron Klein, Senior Fellow at Brookings, for their review and comments. The authors also acknowledge Ashley LeClair, Brookings Mountain West, who provided valuable editing and design expertise in the final production of this report.

• Voices of the middle class. (2020). Brookings Intuition, Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/interactives/voices-of-the-middle-class/.
• Kolko, J. (2017, June 22). 40 years from now, the U.S. could look like Las Vegas demographically, at least. FiveThirtyEight, Retrieved from https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/40-years-from-now-the-u-s-could-look-like-las-vegas.
• QuickFacts: (2019, July 1). Las Vegas city, Nevada. The U.S. Census Bureau, Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/lasvegascitynevada/PST045219.
• Muro, M. Maxim, R., & Whiton, J. (2020, March 17). The places a COVID-19 recession will likely hit hardest. Brookings Institution. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2020/03/17/the-places-a-covid-19-recession-will-likely-hit-hardest/.
• To read more about how focus group participants in all locations expressed concerns over their time and time use, see: Ford, T., Silva, J., Welch, M., & Sawhill, I. (2021, February). No time to spare: Exploring the middle class time squeeze. Brookings Institution. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/research/no-time-to-spare-exploring-the-middle-class-time-squeeze/.
• Policy and Program Report: Labor and Employment. (2016, April). Research Division, Nevada Legislative Counsel Bureau, Retrieved from https://www.leg.state.nv.us/Division/Research/Publications/Pandpreport/02-LE.pdf.
• Right to work states. (2020). National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, Retrieved from https://www.nrtw.org/right-to-work-states/.
• Reeves, R. & Sawhill, I. (2020, September). A New Contract with the Middle Class. Brookings Institution. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/FMCi-Middle-Class-Contract-DIGITAL-VERSION.pdf.
• Muro, M. Maxim, R., & Whiton, J. (2019, January 24). Automation and Artificial Intelligence: How machines are affecting people and places. Brookings Institution. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/research/automation-and-artificial-intelligence-how-machines-affect-people-and-places/.
• To read more about how focus group participants in all locations expressed concerns about short-notice scheduling, paid time off, and access to remote work, see: Ford, T., Silva, J., Welch, M., & Sawhill, I. (2021, February). No time to spare: Exploring the middle class time squeeze. Brookings Institution. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/research/no-time-to-spare-exploring-the-middle-class-time-squeeze/.
• Economic News Release: Table 5. How far in advance workers knew their work schedules by selected characteristics, averages for the period 2017-2018. (2019, September 24). U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/news.release/flex2.t05.htm.
• Guyot, K. & Reeves, R. (2020, August 18). Unpredictable work hours and volatile incomes are long-term risks for American workers. Brookings Institution. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2020/08/18/unpredictable-work-hours-and-volatile-incomes-are-long-term-risks-for-american-workers/.
• Family and Medical Leave Act. (updated 2020, July 16). U.S. Department of Labor, Retrieved from https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fmla.
• Desilver, D. (2020, March 12). As coronavirus spreads, which U.S. workers have paid sick leave – and which don’t? Pew Research Center. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/03/12/as-coronavirus-spreads-which-u-s-workers-have-paid-sick-leave-and-which-dont/.
• Snyder, R. & Rindels, M. (2020, May 22). Nevada posts 28.2 percent unemployment rate, highest in the nation. The Nevada Independent. Retrieved from https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/nevada-posts-28-2-percent-unemployment-rate-highest-in-nation.
• Economy at a Glance: Las Vegas-Paradise, NV. (2020, July 16). U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.nv_lasvegas_msa.htm.
• Klein, A. & Smith, E. (2021, February 4). Explaining the economic impact of COVID-19: Core industries and the Hispanic workforce. Brookings Mountain West. Retrieved from https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/brookings_policybriefs_reports/2/.
• Klein, A. & Gelrud Shiro, A. (2020, October 1). The COVID-19 recession hit Latino workers hard. Here’s what we need to do. Brookings Intuition. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/how-we-rise/2020/10/01/the-covid-19-recession-hit-latino-workers-hard-heres-what-we-need-to-do/.
• Ananat, E. O. & Gassman-Pines, A. (2020, May 19). Of the 1,000 workers we texted, nearly all are in trouble. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/19/opinion/coronavirus-paycheck-guarantee-act.html.
• News Release: The Employment Situation – May 2021. (2021, June 4). U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf.
• Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey. (2021, June 4). U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cpseea31.htm.
• Associated Press. (2021, May 28). Jammed sidewalks, fewer masks: Las Vegas shows signs of recovery heading into Memorial Day weekend. USA Today, Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/news/2021/05/28/las-vegas-casino-win-masks-economic-recovery-signs-memorial-day/5246376001/.
• “Nevada Enacts Right to Return Law for Certain Workers Laid Off During and After COVID-19 Pandemic” Retrieved from https://www.natlawreview.com/article/nevada-enacts-right-to-return-law-certain-workers-laid-during-and-after-covid-19.
• AB456. (Updated 2021, June 6). Nevada Electronic Legislative Information System, Retrieved from https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/80th2019/Bill/6870/Overview.
• Labor Commissioner releases 2021 minimum wage and daily overtime bulletins. (2021, April 1). Nevada Association of Employers, Retrieved from https://www.nevadaemployers.org/labor-commissioner-releases-2021-minimum-wage-and-daily-overtime-bulletins/.
• Sawhill, I. & Welch, M. (2020, July 2). Reopening America: We shouldn’t reopen the economy without paid sick and family leave. Brookings Institution. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2020/07/02/reopening-america-we-shouldnt-reopen-the-economy-without-paid-sick-and-family-leave/.
• The American Rescue Plan. (2021, March0. White House, Retrieved from https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/American-Rescue-Plan-Fact-Sheet.pdf.
• Nevada Sick Leave: What you need to know. (2021). Business & Learning Resources, Retrieved from https://www.blr.com/HR-Employment/Benefits-Leave/Sick-Leave-in-Nevada.
• Van Drie, H. (2021, May 19). Guarantee 20 days of paid leave. Brookings Institution. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2021/05/19/guarantee-20-days-of-paid-leave/
• Sawhill, I. & Guyot, K. (2020, August). The Middle Class Time Squeeze. Brookings Institution. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/The-Middle-Class-Time-Squeeze_08.18.2020.pdf.
• Bessen, J., Goos, M., Salomons, A., & and van den Berge, W. Automation: A guide for policymakers. Brookings Institution. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/research/automation-a-guide-for-policymakers/.
• Greenstone, M., Looney, A., Patashnik, J., & Yu, M. (2013, June 26). Thirteen Economic Facts about Social Mobility and the Role of Education. Brookings Institution. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/research/thirteen-economic-facts-about-social-mobility-and-the-role-of-education/.
• Nzau, S. (2021, May 26). Free college? Try Scholarships for Service. Brookings Institution. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2021/05/26/free-college-try-scholarships-for-service/.
• Guyot, K. & Sawhill, I. (2020, April 6). Telecommuting will likely continue long after the pandemic. . Brookings Institution. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2020/04/06/telecommuting-will-likely-continue-long-after-the-pandemic/.
• Economic News Release: Table 1. Workers who could work at home, did work at home, and were paid for work at home, by selected characteristics, averages for the period 2017-2018. (2019, September 24). U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, https://www.bls.gov/news.release/flex2.t01.htm.
• Guyot, K, & Reeves, R. (2020, August 18). Unpredictable work hours and volatile incomes are long-term risks for American workers. Brookings Institution. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2020/08/18/unpredictable-work-hours-and-volatile-incomes-are-long-term-risks-for-american-workers/.
• Fact Sheet: The Schedules That Work Act of 2019. (2019, October 17). Elizabeth Warren, United States Senator for Massachusetts, Retrieved from https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/senator-warren-and-representative-delauro-announce-reintroduction-of-the-schedules-that-work-act.

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• >> Business
• >> Tourism

Little negative effect to Florida tourism seen from recent events

Tourism industry experts in Las Vegas and Orlando say they don’t expect the three horrific incidents that occurred in Central Florida over the past six days will have long-term detrimental effects to visitation.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Tourism industry experts in Las Vegas and Orlando say they don’t expect three horrific incidents in Central Florida over the past six days to cause long-term harm to visitation.

Billy Vassiliadis, CEO and principal of R&R Partners, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority’s contracted advertising consultant, said he doesn’t expect Orlando’s tourism numbers to plummet as a result of the shooting of budding musician Christina Grimmie by a crazed fan after a concert Friday night; the killing of 49 people at Pulse nightclub Sunday morning in the worst mass shooting in American history; and the death of a 2-year-old who was drowned by an alligator after being attacked at a Disney resort Tuesday night.

Vassiliadis’ sentiments were echoed by a University of Central Florida economics professor, who believes the locations of the incidents and the belief they don’t foretell any potential future danger will leave potential visitors comfortable with their travel plans.

Sean Snaith, also director of the university’s Institute for Economic Competitiveness, said in an interview that the potential impact on Orlando would last “weeks, possibly months.”

“These types of events are infrequent and quite rare, so I think people are more likely to look past them as far as their plans are concerned to visit the region,” Snaith said. “So I think the impact these events will have will be rather short-lived as far as tourism and visitation is concerned.”

Vassiliadis said the effect on Orlando would be similar to what occurred in Las Vegas after a gunman shot three people, one fatally, at a Bally’s nightclub in October 2013 or when a female motorist mowed down a dozen people walking along the Strip, killing one, on Dec. 20. Neither incident has had a long-term effect on tourism in Las Vegas.

The biggest difference was the short time between the Orlando fatalities.

MANY SIMILARITIES

The matter is important to Las Vegas because of the multiple similarities between the two cities. Both are dependent upon visitation by conventioneers and pleasure seekers. In 2015, Las Vegas had a record 42.3 million visitors. Orlando also set a record for the year with 66.1 million visitors.

While casino resorts and entertainment are at the center of Southern Nevada’s economy, Orlando depends on family-oriented guest experiences. A variety of theme parks are based on fantasy and adventure.

But both cities have felt the sting of recessional periods that have spilled into the construction and housing industries. Like Nevadans, Florida residents have been hurt by the housing bubble that left homes underwater. In 2015, Nevada and Florida ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, among states with the highest negative equity rates.

Tourism leaders in both communities tend to keep quiet in response to any incident that could shed a negative light on their destinations. Representatives of both Visit Orlando, the tourism marketing arm for Central Florida, and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority declined requests for interviews.

Vassiliadis said it has been his experience that high-profile news events, such as the shooting at Pulse nightclub and the alligator attack at Disney’s Grand Floridian, usually don’t become long-term detriments to the tourism economy.

“What may be a little more disconcerting for Orlando compared with Las Vegas and other cities is that the (impact on) family-oriented visitors may be a little longer — I’m not talking about a year, but maybe months instead of weeks,” he said.

“I think people are a little more comfortable when you go into a situation like that when it’s themselves or maybe a friend,” Vassiliadis said. “But there’s probably a little more hesitation when you’re bringing your kids. In terms of the Orlando business traveler, I don’t believe anybody is going to cancel their conventions or anything like that. But because of the family destination, maybe a little longer.”

GIVING ORLANDO A LIFT

Vassiliadis added that some tourists might go out of their way to visit Orlando now in an effort to boost the community, the same way tourists flocked to New York within months of the 9/11 terrorist attack.

Snaith said many out-of-town guests are unfamiliar with Orlando’s geography and don’t realize the resort destinations are miles away from the nightclub that was attacked.

There were several developments Thursday in Orlando’s worst week ever:

■ President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden met privately with survivors of the Pure nightclub massacre and the families of the victims. Obama and Biden met families at the Amway Center, the downtown arena at which the NBA’s Orlando Magic play, just a few blocks from the nightclub. They then laid bouquets of 49 white roses at a memorial at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. The first funerals and memorials for the victims were held earlier in the day.

■ At the nightclub, police officers continued to collect evidence and process the crime scene. Dozens of media from as far away as California and Europe are camped blocks away awaiting developments. Several streets in the nightclub neighborhood are closed and barricaded, and police officers stopped pedestrians attempting to walk into the area.

■ Disney resort beaches were closed for a second day following late Wednesday’s recovery of the body of 2-year-old Lane Graves. The boy was found a few yards from where he had been wading when an alligator believed to be 4 to 7 feet long pulled him into the Seven Seas Lagoon at the Disney Grand Floridian Resort. An autopsy confirmed the boy drowned and suffered traumatic injuries.

A sixth alligator was removed from the lagoon Thursday, but officials have found no evidence that any of those removed had attacked the boy. Disney officials also indicated they are reviewing the signage near waterways. Critics contend signs that warn people not to swim in the resort waters fail to mention the possible presence of alligators.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at [email protected] or 702-477-3893. Find him on Twitter: @RickVelotta

These trees were replacements for mature trees that had been removed prior to November’s Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix race.

A new mini-golf concept opening in the Town Square retail center in Las Vegas is set to offer many entertainment options outside of putting.

Adult entertainment club Spearmint Rhino sued Peppermint Hippo for its “confusingly similar” name, court records show.

Hard Rock International will begin putting its touch on The Mirage, more than two years after the company revealed its plans to change the Strip resort.

Tourist volumes have been on a steady climb since the pandemic and those visitors are spending more than they ever have.

Contrary to social media rumors the Las Vegas Monorail remains on track to transport riders in the resort corridor well into the near future, according to tourism agency that owns it.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority approved an extension to its contract with the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association.

The Jack Nicklaus-designed course in Summerlin South has sold to a company connected to some prominent names.

Four new executive appointments at Fontainebleau will further develop the marketing, human resources and security divisions at the new luxury resort.

Here’s a look at 2024’s most searched-for summer travel destinations, according to Google Flights data.