Helping a City Overcome a Tragedy with Tourist Dollars
I love Las Vegas for a thousand campy reasons—the lights, the glitz, the music of the Sex and the City slot machine. I love the show girls posing for photos on the streets, the sheer energy of the strip, the high-end shopping that I can really only dream about. I also like that Las Vegas has an intellectual side that, if not played down, seems not to be emphasized. The last time I am there, I see more Fabergé eggs than I am able to view when I am in Russia. I see ancient woolly mammoth tusk carvings on display at Treasure Island. I sniff the perfume that a perfumer carried aboard the Titanic. I have a million reasons to visit Las Vegas now.
Las Vegas beyond Gambling
I like the nonstop element of the place, the lights in the darkness, the Eiffel Tower, the gondola rides, veggie burgers at 2 a.m. I like that I can see Carlos Santana and Donny & Marie in the same week. Yes, I like ascending Machu Picchu, cruising the original Eiffel Tower, and touring a banana farm in Costa Rica, too. But Las Vegas has something those places do not.
#VegasStrong
And so I would like to go there when people might hesitate. A New Yorker, I remember how Manhattan needed tourist dollars after 9/11, and politicians and business people promoted the idea that now would be a good time to come to New York. Las Vegas might just be experiencing a temporary dip without any long-term impact on visitor levels due to the Oct. 1 shootings there. Even so, I have no problem encouraging Vegas to be strong and prospective tourists to go there. I would like to be one myself. I have no problem visiting Las Vegas now.
Did You Know?
Las Vegas is a top domestic destination (coming in at No. 4 after Los Angeles, Dallas, and Orlando) for Thanksgiving 2017 according to data (compiled before the shooting) from CheapOair.
—Lori Tripoli
Planning a trip to Las Vegas? You might like these posts:
- Recreational Learning: Las Vegas
- 7 Tips for New Yorkers Navigating Las Vegas
- To Vegas for the Culture?