Corona: Las Vegas Is Fighting for Survival

Not much left of Las Vegas

It's no secret that gambling tourism has collapsed since the first casino lockdown in Las Vegas. Even after the reopening, travel restrictions, strict hygiene regulations, mask requirements and a government-mandated reduction in hotel and casino occupancy ensured a more than sluggish restart. The effects of the pandemic led, among other things, to permanent closures and mass layoffs.

As an NTV report shows, the casino metropolis is still deep in crisis in 2021: income from casinos, hotels, show and exhibition halls is far below normal levels. The tourist centers GLIlike a ghost town. The news station speaks of a painful standstill, residents of an eerie and bizarre situation. The reporters concluded that Las Vegas is no longer what it used to be.

The well-known Elvis impersonator Jesse Garon commented on site: There is not much left of Las Vegas; he has not seen a cityscape like this in over 27 years. Normally it would take an hour and a half to drive down the Strip, but now it takes 30 minutes. Garon has been performing in the desert city since 1992 and has long been part of the show ensemble - but this is no longer his Las Vegas.

Las Vegas is located in Nevada - one of the largest US states in terms of area, but which only has around three million inhabitants. Most of them live in Clark County, where Las Vegas is located, which has always been almost entirely focused on tourism. Before the pandemic, around 42 million tourists traveled to the gambling delta every year; in 2020 there were 19 million. A disaster for Las Vegas. The casino giant MGM Resort alone laid off 18,000 employees in September. According to management statements, the company's capacity utilization has been below 50 percent for a long time.

Las Vegas Strip is deserted

Elvis impersonator Garon highlighted the legendary Las Vegas Strip as the main indicator of the current state of the city: The strip used to be completely full of cars and people at three in the morning, but now there are only a few vehicles and five or six people per block. In addition, before the pandemic, Garon had taken at least one tourist tour by car every day - but since the first lockdown there has only been one.

His third line of business - weddings at the famous Little White Chapel - has also come to a standstill. Before the pandemic, wedding after wedding followed; ten percent of all tourists, according to Garon, would only come to Las Vegas to get married. You can imagine for yourself how the business is now. Garon now even has to cash in food stamps and only dares to go out on the street wearing a hat.

Residents are fighting for survival

Las Vegas actually stands for GLItzer and glamour, trade fairs and shows, hotels and restaurants, casino games and poker. From the air, the city still shimmers as it did before the pandemic, but on the ground there is a fight for survival the likes of which the metropolis has never experienced before. Closed shops and the number of homeless people are increasing.

In the casinos, only 35 percent occupancy is allowed. Many establishments are no longer open 24 hours a day, as they were before the pandemic. Pools, bars, restaurants and clubs are also mostly closed. Those who suffer most are the residents who have built their lives in Las Vegas and are dependent on tourism. The number of terminations is growing daily.

In the first three months of the pandemic alone, 250,000 people lost their jobs. Economist Jeremy Aguero attributes these job losses almost exclusively to the collapse of tourism. Las Vegas is much more than hotels and casinos - the city generally lives from the hospitality industry and leisure activities. If these sectors fail, hundreds of taxi drivers or airport employees, for example, would also be affected. People would have to start completely over from one day to the next. The unemployment rate in Vegas is now higher than any other rate in a major US city that has ever been documented.

The recovery process takes years

Aguero expects it will take years to restore economic stability to Las Vegas. The gradual reopening of Las Vegas offers hope, but there is no emergency plan or rescue button for the restoration. At least on the weekends, bookings are slowly increasing again, according to the news channel NTV reported.

Elvis impersonator Jesse Garon hopes to finally perform again soon. He hasn't had an appearance in eight months. He currently only earns money through gambling on slot machines . He has already thought about turning his back on Las Vegas several times. Since the time before the pandemic was fantastic, he didn't have the heart to take this step. Vegas simply has to come back, was the final credo.

Corona: Las Vegas is fighting for survival