Las Vegas tourism decline hits local businesses hard as airport data shows fewer visitors, impacting workers from gun ranges to restaurants.

Las Vegas Strip

Las Vegas is experiencing a downturn in tourism, which is having a widespread impact beyond the Strip. Local businesses that rely on tourists, such as shops and restaurants, are seeing fewer customers and reduced revenue. Workers, including servers and shop employees, report financial strain due to lower tips and decreased business activity. Union representatives highlight the broader economic implications, noting that Las Vegas is uniquely facing this tourism decline among monitored countries. Tourism authorities are responding with new advertising campaigns and anticipate that upcoming conventions may help bring visitors back, but many locals remain concerned about the ongoing effects on their livelihoods.

Las Vegas tourism downturn affects more than the Strip

We've all heard that tourism is down in Las Vegas, but it's not just fewer visitors on the Las Vegas Strip or in downtown, it also means fewer customers of businesses around the valley that depend on tourists for their bottom line. I caught up with local Zach Wilcox at Governor Joe Lombardo's campaign kickoff earlier this week. He told me when things get slow in Las Vegas, they also slow down at his gun shop, which includes a popular shooting range. The shop that we operate, we're near the Strip and we can actually kind of see and feel the slow in tourism and things like that. So anything that he's willing to do economically to help out Southern Nevada, I really appreciate. Because we're near the Strip, we kind of do really feel the fluctuations in the tourism. So when things are down there, we really can see and feel it at the store. The downturn also means fewer customers and less in tips for workers in restaurants on and off the Strip. Longtime food server, Josefina Hurtado, told me recently she's seeing fewer people and is worried about how long the slump will last. If this goes on, if this continues, how's it going to affect you? By a lot, you know, I'm just, don't know where I'm going to get the funds or even do what I need to do to make sure my kids, you know, have a better future than I did growing up. Hurtado is a single mom with four kids working to make sure they all have a chance to go to college. That's not easy on the best day. And she tells me it's all the more difficult with fewer customers and fewer dollars in tips. I just hope and pray that, you know, we come out of this Trump slump that we're in because it's real. It's definitely real and it's a struggle. The downturn is also a concern for Ted Papageorge, the Secretary-Treasurer of the Culinary Union Local 226. He says the drop in visitors has a big impact on many locals here in Las Vegas. The facts are in that we're the only country of all the ones that are being monitored that's going to have a downturn in tourism. And it's going to be in tens of billions of dollars. And that means jobs in Las Vegas. And that's a real problem. And most folks didn't vote for that. So what we want to see is some real refocus from this administration on the cost of living. And if they don't do it, there's going to be repercussions in the ballot box next year. Tourism authorities say upcoming convention business will bring more visitors and they've launched a new ad campaign designed to lure more people back here to Las Vegas. And for workers whose livelihoods depend on visitors, this downturn can't end soon enough. Reporting in studio, I'm Steve Sebelius.

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