What does Las Vegas need?

What does Vegas need, to continue to being a gambling mecca? Having no offspring, I don't know that current young / future generations are really that 'into' gaming (in the casino sense of the word). Is there an expectation that Vegas would draw younger patrons with X and then hope to entice them into gamblin'? As mentioned a couple of times above, sans vaccine, we shan't be going, so that's what I personally think Vegas needs, in the short term.

 

As far as expanding it's base of frequent visitors? I'll take a stab at it.

First of all, the age ranges they use for all of their surveys are completely off the point and that needs to get more specific. The amount of money someone in their early 20's vs late 20's can spend is important. The amount of free time someone in their early 30s vs their late 30s (think kids) has to take a Vegas is important. Late 20s and early 30s are a much closer demographic in forms of data collected than they are currently getting with the decade approach in regards to age. The exact same thing can be said for other groups as the age range increases. That's just one example. I won't get into household size (more important than income in a lot of ways) and other factors. I think if they readjusted the way they went about collecting data, it could greatly benefit the industry in their marketing.

For the most part, Vegas has it's own built in marketing and capitalizes on that better than any other destination in the country. It's still Vegas and as long as they keep the "Sin" part of Sin City, it's going to have people wanting to go. As long as it can show itself as a destination where you can do it all, people are going to show up. The next couple of years are going to be tough for the city though. Times are going to be tight for quiet a while. How do you get that message to the customer, more importantly groups of customers who will see the message together and say "We need to take a trip."? I would suggest hiring a damned good comedic screenwriter and put a movie up on the big screen or streaming service. There hasn't been a blockbuster involving Vegas since the Hangover films. Get people laughing and wanting that experience.

One last thing I would suggest is going after the music festival demographic. Specifically, the ones who are sitting around at the end of the festival thinking "I don't know how many more of these I got an me." Drinking, partying, and sleeping in a field in the summer heat gets harder with each year. It's a lot easier when you can stay in an awesome hotel/casino. The city should consider having a non-EDM based festival with headlining acts more similar to Jazz Fest in New Orleans. While music festivals and Vegas are different, the major thing they have in common are that both are about as an immersive vacation that one can take. I think if you get 80-90k people who enjoy going to music festivals in Vegas, you are going to see major returns on those attendees coming back again just for Vegas. In fact, I think there's a good chance you can get the ones who are feeling like they are getting "too old" for the festival scene to make it a regular vacation spot. The EDM festivals are fine in that they bring in revenue. A different type of festival would bring in revenue and returning customers with deeper pockets who would appreciate the city for what it already is.

 

Perhaps I'm in the minority but I'm younger (33 and been gambling since mid 20s), enjoy gambling and drinking in Vegas more than any other activity by far, do not do the club scene or crazy pool parties, shows, etc. It seems that there's a presumption by an older generation that folks in the younger generation aren't gamblers first, which I find amusing because, again, I'm in this category and know many who are of the same ilk.

So yes, I think Vegas should return to being a gambling mecca for the short term, or at least more of a focal point again, because the reality is the way things were prior to March - i.e. wherein gambling was becoming an ever smaller segment of the allure of Vegas as years go by with a primacy on nightclubs, parties, etc- is absolutely not going to happen again in the short term. Vegas can allow gambling safer than shows/buffets/nightclubs/massive pool parties, so why not better try to capitalize on it by making gambling more enticing to the existing smaller segment (through better comps, no resort fees), as well as to entice new, prospective gamblers with lower limit games. I see TRs where tables are $50 BJ and nobody is there, wouldn't it make more sense to lower the limits so casual gamblers can actually play at those tables? The argument that the casino is making no money there makes no sense, because they will make some more money with a table of 2-3 playing rather than 0 people playing.

Frankly, what's the alternative, stay as is? As it stands right now, Vegas is no different today than Atlantic City (sans the on the floor drinking, for now) insofar as all it can offer is gambling. Might as well make it more enticing, otherwise, why the hell would anyone new fly over? Some existing degens will come, but 28 year old first timers sure as hell won't be coming for bachelor parties or anything tantamount for the time being.

 

If the travel videos on Youtube are any indication, the answer would likely be diversification of experiences at different price points, with attractions that generally aren't present anywhere else in the globe. I don't know what that is, but how do you compete for tourists against storied cities with thousands of years of history (and tourist attractions) behind them? That might mean starting new festivals or parades, re-theming hotels, and taking a leaf out of Dubai's and Singapore's (Changi Airport and the Skypark) books.

However, trying to predict what future generations will like is generally an exercise in futility for the majority of us. I liken it to people in the Victorian-era discussing how to keep the corset in vogue.

 

Agreed!

 

$5 crap tables
Free parking in hotels
No resort fees!

 

A re-focusing on tangible experiences. Live games, live dealers, live entertainment, live spectacles.

The vast majority of people spend countless hour starting at a screen when they aren't on vacation. Hell, that's what we are all doing right now as we read and post. I love technology but Vegas is an escape from that normal. I don't want electronic table games or virtual entertainment. I want real chips, real dealers, real players, real dice, real felt. I want to see a real (but actually fake) volcano explode. I want to see a real fountain show. I want to see some psycho try and jump his motorcycle over those fountains in real time.

I want all that and I want it to be the sincere dreams of visionaries, not the hollow creations of some cynical faceless corporation. We need more guys like Jay Sarno, Steve Wynn, and Derek Stevens. People that are willing to bet their own farm because they believe in their vision rather than play it safe to appease a board of directors.

 

NO Resort Fees. Big ripoff!!!.

 

An over 55 hotel/casino. There'd be no drunk "youngsters" screaming in the hall at 3 AM. Probably be cleaner with no fights. Scooter chargers built into the slot machines and tables. Flip phone chargers, too. Come to think of it, the California is pretty close.

 

Conventions. Without those, it is impossible to keep up Vegas as it is.

Times of being a gambling mecca are over with 2/3rd of revenue being generated outside gambling and Macao taking literally the lion‘s share of HL action.

 

I doubt they're going anywhere; however, the casinos *could* find new things to "include" in the resort fees. Printing boarding passes and allowing free local calls don't carry the weight they once did, assuming they ever did in the first place. Maybe they can replace it with coupons for free drinks or discounts on food from places in the casino. 5-10 bucks/day in free slot play for those with players cards would be cool, too.

 

Vegas looks to have been doing just fine with the resort fees in place, so not sure it needs those to be going anywhere.

Last thing Vegas needs to do is be handing money over.

 

Well, we’re going to get some new things:
-Circa will open, and it will be minimum age 21, no kids, no strollers. That will be a welcome change.
-they just announced a bond issue to finance the high speed train from Southern California.
-Resorts World will open soon as well.

 

There's GOTTA be a way to incorporate this into one of the finer strip joints in town.

 

That's what I was like on normal stairs, so we had to move to a bungalow

 

Functioning escalators would be nice.

 

If the HS train ever becomes reality, it will not be the convenience the planners tout it to be. Realistically, we will still be having this same discussion decades from now.

 

Post Covid:

Keep the Vegas we have with innovative updating and upgrading..
My vision for a new resort near the Raiders complex that has something for everyone:
1) Left pod would have separate levels with smoking/non smoking casinos/bars/food courts/multiple 24 hour cafes.
2) Wheel pod is the spectacular views hotel with wave pools, lazy rivers, themed pools, convention facilities, bars, convenience shopping, i.e. drugstore, etc.
3) Third pod is the restaurant pod, more convention arenas, and show pod - unique quick bites to 5 star eats, bars, tea rooms, and large show venues.
4) 4th pod is the club and entertainment pod - dance clubs, intimate hang out clubs, movie theaters, bowling alley, game shows with audience participation, food courts, bistros.

I’ll leave the parking to others, but underground works for me...

And of course high speed, high tech people movers between pods.



Geez, I’m really bored cause this stuff isn’t my thing
I love Vegas no matter what it offers up

 

It needs a rapid transit subway, in the fashion of Elon Musk's subway. Just four subway stations on it - South Strip, Center Strip, North Strip and Downtown.

 

I agree with large parts of this. It’s pretty forward thinking, and in many ways I already invest in this outcome.

I don’t think it goes away, but I can see a point that reinvestment won’t be as large. The return won’t be there to justify it.

In another thread some time ago I posted the financials of a single person making 150,000 annually, and how much pre tax I thought their gambling / vacation budget should be. That didn’t go over very well, but that doesn’t change some cold, hard truths.

Your post was more about younger people’s preferences in communication and social interaction. But young people have no money, and the percentage of them that are going to acquire real wealth isn’t going to grow. Not just young people, I’m guessing a large percentage of current Las Vegas visitors really can’t afford to be there now.

In certain areas the entertainment business of Las Vegas isn’t sustainable. The free market will certainly find some winners, but probably not before losers are identified.

I did say LV isn’t going to disappear, but I just can’t see and significant growth or reinvestment. I know factually Blackstone isn’t buying anything there ever again, except possibly after a black swan event. I can read financial statements, And unlike some, the footnotes where they bury things, and I know both large operators aren’t in a happy spot for new innovation that takes large investment. I hold debt in the new Circa which I mentioned in the stock thread, and if it wasn’t for the character of people involved there, I’d be concerned right now. As it is, this might be the last major thing that actually gets built for a while unless Resorts gets done.