New day, new problem, and Las Vegas has to figure it out: Where have all the visitors gone?
Clearly, they’re missing in action. And, if there’s one thing Vegas is known for, it’s action. But you can’t have action without the bodies.
Whether the decline of visitors is a result of high room rates, parking and resort fees, tariffs, or a combination of “all of the above,” it’s clearly a problem. Additionally, the newer resorts aren’t drawing the crowds they had anticipated.
To paraphrase President Jimmy Carter’s “malaise speech”: It is a crisis of confidence. It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart, soul and spirit of our collective casino will.
So, what now? What can Las Vegas, a city known for constantly reinventing itself and coming up with creative solutions, do now?
Fear not! Some solutions to making Las Vegas great again:
*Accept the fact that gambling is everywhere. It’s online, as well as in other states and countries. Here’s the move, although this may seem strange and counterintuitive: make gambling less pervasive here, or to paraphrase a controversial topic, “legal but rare.” Make it more of a treat, a rare sighting, a “special” occurrence if you will. Put it behind a curtain, make it more evocative. Think of gaming as strip tease. The less you see, the more you want! In other words, scarcity marketing!
*Bring back the people who used to work in the casinos. In this robotic, automated and AI-driven environment, make the human experience count again. More real dealers on the floor interacting with real players. Now, that’s relationship marketing.
*Same thing at the airport. Take out the slots and video poker. Make it an airport, not a casino. You can leave the restaurants and retail stores with outrageous prices…that’s the norm.
*Make Las Vegas a personal experience. Get rid of the airport’s recorded celebrity announcements and get the actual entertainers out of the showrooms and into the airport to greet passengers. Visitors won’t get that up-close and personal connection in any other city!
*Pass a law to ban long lines for hotel check-in. Don’t believe me? Check out posts on X for videos of people waiting to check in at some Vegas hotels. No excuse. You want guests to get in their rooms as soon as possible to start enjoying the Vegas experience.
*Bring back the buffet! More choices and priced right. You get both the perception of value and the interaction with servers, which keeps up the energy to enjoy Las Vegas.
*Take a special event and make it a daily reality of Las Vegas to enhance the visitor experience. For example, F1. Instead of taxis, Uber, Lyft or driverless cars, just offer F1 race cars for people to drive from the airport to their hotels.
*Finally, market to the older Vegas demographic by reintroducing the ultimate nostalgic food/entertainment package: shrimp cocktails and showgirls!
And that’s the blueprint for bringing visitors back. The important question: What now? Is Vegas ready to reclaim its visitors?
Bet on it.
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