The pieces of the puzzle are starting to come together on the COVID-19 recovery in southern Nevada, with the exception of one really important segment – international travel.
McCarran International Airport’s aviation director Rosemary Vassiliadis told government leaders last week that tourism, especially for Las Vegas, would be incomplete without this component.
Much of the solution to the international travel stop is outside of US control, but Vassiliadis explained why it is important to keep it up in a testimony to the Tourism, Trade and Export Promotion Subcommittee, led by Senator Jacky Rosen, D-Nev work.
Domestic customer acquisition seems to be on the right track.
The visit from California is still impressive, so an old problem of traffic jams on Interstate 15 has been revived for visitors on their way home. Infrastructure improvements, be it additional I-15 lanes, high-speed trains or conventional Amtrak services, are at least under discussion.
Southern Nevada’s resorts have managed to keep their room rates high, and while this is not the kind of news consumers love to hear, it is important for companies to get workers back on their feet. Some resorts are so confident of the recovery that they are reintroducing parking fees, another expense that consumers won’t be crazy about, but a positive sign of the recovery.
Nevertheless, the international component is lagging behind.
We like international visitors because they tend to stay longer and buy more when they are here. Higher gaming revenues are often attributed to the international mix – check out the game of baccarat – and many congresses and fairs that are also in the pipeline depend on delegations from abroad. Around 15 percent of the 175,000 CES delegates come from overseas.
Speaking to the subcommittee, Vassiliadis said that international flights only come from Mexico. Before the pandemic, there were flights from 11 foreign countries. A real killer seems to have been the lack of flights from Canada, where thousands of snowbirds come to Las Vegas from the cold Canadian country every year. Now that it’s almost summer there needs to be a new reminder of how important traffic is to the city.
“In the first four months of 2021 our international volume was less than 80,000 passengers,” Vassiliadis told the subcommittee. “But there is hope on the horizon. Almost every week I or members of my team hear from representatives of international airlines expressing their interest in a quick resumption of flights to Las Vegas. “
Before the coronavirus set in, the number of international visitors reached 3.8 million passengers in 2019. It is imperative to get back to this level before we can assume that Southern Nevada has fully recovered.
Vassiliadis offered a few ideas with the hope that international travel can be saved for the 2021 summer travel season.
Reuters reported last week that the Biden government is weighing several strategies on how to get foreign tourists back but has made no decisions.
The news agency said European Union countries agreed on Wednesday to ease travel restrictions on non-EU visitors ahead of the summer season, a move that could open the door to all British and vaccinated Americans.
On May 3rd, ambassadors from the 27 EU countries approved a proposal by the European Commission to relax the criteria for determining “safe” countries and to allow fully vaccinated tourists from other countries to enter.
A coalition of US and European travel, airline, union, business and airport groups has called for the US air travel market to be reopened “as safely as possible” – and it is hoped that both governments will lift the restrictions will soon be picking up June.
To move towards full recovery safely, more advocacy is needed to resolve the international dilemma.
The city’s tourism industry depends on it.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.
