London’s Daily Mail is at it again, scorching Las Vegas twice this month. On August 12, the Daily Mail gave its readers a taste of the death of Las Vegas with its “Casino in dying Las Vegas dumps human dealers” headline. In the second article, on August 24, the Mail proclaimed: “Classic Las Vegas casino announces it is CLOSING, as Sin City’s rip-off prices trigger devastating tourist slump.” The article on the 24th described the lifespan of the Poker Palace from its inception in 1974 until its demise, coming up on September 30.
After pulling the readers’ heartstrings with the sad tale of a very small casino closing its doors, the Daily Mail hits out at the culprit. Las Vegas is suffering from a loss of visitors due to a combination of “increased tariffs, inflation rates, and high prices, which have prevented people from traveling to the notorious city.”
The story of the woes of Las Vegas has had a very long shelf life; it’s a month old. It got its start with a social-media account of a visitor to Las Vegas who was horrified by the resort fees. The tale generated significant media attention. But at the end of July, when Nevada announced that gross gaming revenue, hotel occupancy, and visitors to Las Vegas for June had declined, the national media jumped into the fray. One example was the Time article I cited in my column, “A long game on the Strip.” Time, Fox News, the Associated Press, Bloomberg News, and Reuters, not to mention the Las Vegas press, all had opinions and forecasts for the city’s future.
This round started for me with the Daily Mail and the Las Vegas Review-Journal on August 25. The R-J’s headline asked, “Are the Strip’s resorts losing customers due to resort fees?” The article cites two sources, Desiree Stokes Blum and Leora Azoulay, both of whom have tourism-related businesses and are advocates for dropping those fees. According to Blum and Azoulay, their pleas are falling on deaf ears. Are resort fees to blame for the woes Blum and Azoulay see?
Undoubtedly, resort fees play a role. Price-conscious travelers seek the least expensive options. Some people have probably decided not to go to Las Vegas because of the cost. Some may have gone to Atlantic City, Mississippi, Missouri, Connecticut, or any one of hundreds of other destinations instead. There are over 1,000 casinos in the United States and most have hotels. However, if it is cheaper hotel rooms you are looking for, don’t look in any major destination, because they are not necessarily cheaper than Las Vegas. Try New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, or Miami. And resort fees are not exclusive to Las Vegas.
There are other reasons people have suggested, Trump’s tariffs, for example. Although it has not been proven, the tariffs might impact travel. They could cause an increase in the cost of dining out, but again, if that is true, it is not exclusive to Las Vegas. And with the numbers just released for Labor Day weekend, prices for gas, flights, lodging, and food are down from last year. A record 17 million people are expected to fly and 38 million to drive at least 50 miles from home. While the traffic and national economy may be causing some angst, they have not stopped people from traveling or spending.
Another argument postulates that the new tax on gambling winnings is at fault. As the tax does not begin until January 1, 2026, it did not have an impact in Las Vegas in June. The evidence does not indicate government policy or new taxes as a cause.
