Candy and Doran Jones wore masks as they roamed Las Vegas for their Thanksgiving vacation, but the Illinois couple said the real thing they’d do to protect them from COVID-19 was the lack of fellow tourists.
“It’s easy to socialize in Las Vegas,” Candy said. “There aren’t a lot of people here.”
Last year, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority announced that nearly 300,000 visitors came for the Thanksgiving holiday. Crowds filled the downtown Strip and Fremont Street, where most of the larger casino hotels are located.
This year the rush is thin. Some big hotels offer deep discounts – as low as $ 35 on a Saturday night.
On Sunday, Nevada’s Governor Steve Sisolak ordered a three-week “temporary hiatus” for the reopening of Las Vegas and the rest of his state after a sharp spike in coronavirus cases.
The maximum capacity in casinos and restaurants fell from 50 percent to 25 percent. Restaurants had to adhere to a reservation policy.
“It doesn’t scream, ‘We’re open to business,'” said Howard Stutz, a veteran Las Vegas casino industry observer and editor-in-chief of CDC Gaming Reports.
Stutz said the governor’s order likely convinced some potential guests to stay home, harming an already fragile casino industry.
Some hotels, he said, would close during the week due to the lack of congresses and meetings.
Las Vegas suffered a greater economic blow than almost any other major US city due to the pandemic as it is dependent on tourism. Tens of thousands of workers have lost their jobs.
Las Vegas hotels averaged 46.9 percent of their rooms last month, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. That was about half the average in October 2019.
But the situation was worse than it appeared. The count didn’t include several major casino hotels that never reopened after closing last March.
Nevertheless, there are still some visitors.
A crowd of gamblers – all men – gathered on the first floor of the new Circa Resort & Casino Thursday night as scantily clad dancing dealers occupied the blackjack tables. Go-go dancers appeared on pedestals at the gaming tables.
But the card tables on the second floor were empty. The dealers, men and women in more subtle casino uniforms, looked bored. The casino never exceeded the 25 percent capacity limit set by the governor.
Circa is the first new casino hotel in downtown Las Vegas in 40 years, so it drew a lot of visitors on Thanksgiving Day. The casino floors of other hotels were almost empty on Thursday night.
The casino hotels would no doubt like to visit more people like Candy and Doran Jones. The couple had already lost a total of $ 2,000 at three casinos by the time they finished their week-long stay in Las Vegas.
The other $ 2,000 they had budgeted would pay for the rest of the vacation. So on Friday morning, the couple didn’t go to the blackjack table at the D Hotel, but to the nearby Mob Museum to learn little about organized crime.
They loved their vacation but also looked forward to returning home, where they said they weren’t wearing masks.
Doran, who owns a septic tank business in Illinois, said he was tired of the imperative restrictions.
“It’s uncomfortable,” he said.
At the Mob Museum, Dave wanted to start his short vacation in Vegas on Thursday. He had driven five hours from Los Angeles to visit Sin City and take a break from the new California restaurant restrictions.
“This is a much-needed break,” said Dave, who refused to give his last name. He planned to wear his mask during his visit.
“A lot of people think the virus is a big deal,” he said. “But as long as you do the right thing, we should be able to travel a little. I’m not doing anything too wild. “
Just to be sure, Dave said he would quarantine himself for five days after his trip before going back to work.
The new order from Sisolak has forced companies to make further adjustments.
The Mob Museum has stopped serving food in its basement distillery, where visitors can learn about Prohibition-era smuggling and walking around eating and drinking.
The governor’s restaurant reservation requirement has not worked for the mob museum as guests regularly come into the restaurant without notice, a server said. If only alcohol is served, the reservation requirement does not apply.
Nobody answered the phone for reservations at a downtown Denny’s. Instead, customers crowded outside the restaurant after putting their names on a list and waiting to be seated.
Randy Diamond covers the tourism and travel industries. To read more from Randy, become a subscriber. randy.diamond@express-news.net
