Las Vegas’ world-renowned tourism, hospitality and gaming sector learned a valuable lesson during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Diana Bennett, the chief executive officer of Paragon Gaming.

“Las Vegas always used to be considered recession-proof,” said Bennett, also a co-founder of Paragon Gaming and a second-generation casino operator. “Because it seemed like when it was a bad time, people wanted to gamble more than they ever did. And I’ve seen over our past 20 years here, that’s just not true.”

Bennett was one of four panelists discussing what has been a tumultuous few years for the Las Vegas market during a forum Wednesday at Caesars Palace hosted by the National Association of Real Estate Editors.