Las Vegas tourist numbers plummet nearly 60 percent in March
Visitation to Sin City plunged nearly 60% in March according to data from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
Convention business was also heavily impacted due to wide-scale event cancellations, down by 54.8%.
Just 1.5 million visitors came to Vegas in March, compared to 3.6 million a year ago.
The second half of the month saw tourism revenues virtually disappear with all casinos closed down from mid-March.
That led to hotel occupancy plummeting from 93% to just 29.4%, and gaming revenues on the Las Vegas Strip were down 45%.
With an entire month of casino closures, the numbers for April will show an even steeper decline.
Casinos are clamouring to reopen while the Nevada economy has been severely impacted by the plunge in gaming tax revenues.
Last week the Nevada Gaming Control Board issued new guidelines for reopening casinos.
It includes social distancing measures such as limiting the number of players at gaming tables.
Only 50% of the maximum capacity will be allowed inside casinos at any given time, and they must follow strict cleaning and sanitary protocols.
"This policy constitutes the minimum requirements that should be followed, and does not preclude a gaming licensee from implementing its own additional requirements," the memo from the Gaming Control Board said.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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