GGW Voices is an ongoing collaboration between CDC Gaming and Global Gaming Women featuring commentary and insight from women in the gaming industry.
Did Las Vegas tourism decline? Yes. Is visitor volume and hotel occupancy down? Yes. Is Las Vegas dying, as some social media influencers claim? No.
Gaming revenue grew this summer. So did per-visitor spending.
Fewer people are coming to Las Vegas, but casinos are making more money. How can both things be true? And what happens when the math stops mathing?
The answer: High-roller gaming is masking weakness. Casinos are extracting more from fewer guests. It’s a strategy with a ceiling.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority responded. They launched the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” campaign, featuring a new TV spot, theme song, and citywide activations. Then followed the first-ever “Fabulous 5-Day Sale” with more than 150 deals including up to 50% off room rates and waived resort fees. The campaign achieved a significant increase in website traffic and booking interest.
Digital engagement spiked. Las Vegas needed a boost from its destination marketing organization, and the LVCVA delivered.
But when you compete on price, you train customers to wait for the next discount. Offering discounts leads to transactional relationships. Loyalty is based on emotional connection. People remember what they feel longer than what they know. That’s the science behind storytelling. We make decisions before we’re even consciously aware of it and we do that based on emotion.
When your message doesn’t match your audience’s emotional reality, they tune out, no matter how loud you shout.
Here’s what Las Vegas and every gaming property actually needs to solve: How do you create emotionally resonant content that builds brand loyalty across a variety of price points?
The answer is storytelling. Not glossy, “perfect” commercials showing amenities and size two twenty somethings. Not celebrity endorsements and big-budget productions. Not AI-generated content at scale designed to game the algorithm.
Real storytelling. The kind that gives permission, not aspiration.
Show me the couple celebrating their 25th anniversary at a mid-tier property, not because it’s all they can afford, but because it’s where they had their honeymoon and the memories matter more than marble bathrooms.
Show me the friends who meet in Vegas every year because they made a pact to never let life get too busy for the people who matter.
The most powerful stories aren’t about the extraordinary. They’re about making the ordinary feel meaningful.
Not everyone comes to your property, event, or restaurant for the same reason. So why tell them the same story?
The luxury visitor needs exclusivity and insider access. Show behind-the-scenes moments and personalized service. The emotional hook: “If you know, you know.”
The value-conscious visitor driving in from California needs to feel smart, not cheap. Show real guests sharing how they “did Vegas right for under $500 per person.” Give them insider tips. The emotional hook: “Bragging rights? Priceless. Everything else? Surprisingly affordable.”
The convention attendee considering an extra day needs transformation. Quick turnarounds that show “This 48-hour decision changed everything.” The emotional hook: “Come for work. Stay for yourself.”
These aren’t marketing materials. They’re human moments that happen to take place at your property. When you capture them authentically without overproduction, potential visitors see themselves in those moments.
Not as tourists. As people who deserve joy.
That’s what builds loyalty across every price point. Not because you offered 30% off. Because you made them feel seen.
Here are three storytelling shifts that will matter more than any new marketing automation tool:
- Shift from campaigns to conversations. Stop launching campaigns and start listening. Use social listening to understand the real objection your market has, then tell stories that overcome it. Short-form video that responds to real concerns with real guest perspectives.
- Shift from features to transformation. Not “We have five pools.” But “Here’s how a single afternoon changed everything.” Show the impact, not just the event. People don’t remember amenities six months later. They remember how you made them feel.
- Shift from destination-wide messaging to property-specific emotional positioning. Your property needs a specific emotional value proposition. Are you the “I can’t believe that just happened” property? The “Place to get away from it all” property? The “Where I felt like a high-roller on a budget” property?
We can’t build a sustainable industry on discounts and baccarat alone. Transactional relationships end the moment someone offers a better deal.
But here’s what gives me hope: Despite declining numbers, Las Vegas still feels alive with packed casinos, sold-out shows, and long hotel check-in lines. That energy exists. The magic is still here.
The question is: Are we capturing it?
This week at G2E we discussed AI, innovation, regulatory challenges, and operational excellence. All critical conversations. But the most powerful tool is still the oldest one: a story that makes someone feel something.
Facts tell you what’s happening. Data tells you who’s not coming. But only stories make people care enough to change their behavior.
The question isn’t whether Las Vegas can survive this tourism decline. It’s whether gaming executives will invest in storytelling with the same urgency they invest in marketing campaigns, before discounting becomes the only strategy left.
Because right now, you’re making more money from fewer people. That’s not a sustainable strategy. It’s borrowed time.
Time will run out. But the stories? Those can build something that lasts.
