Vegas is no sure bet as a vacation destination

LAS VEGAS — Candy and Doran Jones wore masks as they traipsed around Las Vegas for their Thanksgiving vacation, but what the couple from Illinois said really kept them safe from COVID-19 was the lack of fellow tourists.

“It's easy to socially distance in Las Vegas,” Candy said. “There aren't many people here.”

Last year, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority said nearly 300,000 visitors came for the Thanksgiving holiday. Crowds filled the Strip and Fremont Street downtown, where most of the larger casinohotels are located.

This year, the crowds are thin. Some large hotels are offering deep discounts — as low as $35 on Saturday night.

On Sunday, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak — after a sharp increase in coronavirus cases — ordered what he called a three-week “temporary pause” to the reopening of Las Vegas and the rest of his state.

Maximum capacity at casinos and restaurants dropped to 25 percent from 50 percent. Restaurants were required to go a reservation-only policy.

“It doesn't scream out, ‘We are open for business,'” said Howard Stutz, a veteran Las Vegas casino industry observer and executive editor of CDC Gaming Reports.

Stutz said the governor's order probably convinced some potential guests to stay home, hurting an already fragile casino industry.

Some hotels, he said, are starting to close during the week because of the absence of conventions and meetings.

Las Vegas took a bigger economic hit because of the pandemic than almost any other major U.S. city, given its dependence on tourism. Tens of thousands of workers have lost their jobs.

Hotels in Las Vegas only filled an average of 46.9 percent of their rooms last month, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. That was about half the average in October 2019.

But the situation was even worse than it appeared. The count didn't include several major casino hotels that never reopened from the shutdown last March.

Yet, some visitors still are coming.

A crowd of gamblers — all of them men — gathered Thursday night on the first floor of the new Circa Resort & Casino as scantly clad dancing dealers manned blackjack tables. Go-go dancers performed on pedestals by the gambling tables.

But on the second floor, the card tables were empty. The dealers, men and women wearing more subdued casino uniforms, looked bored. The casino never exceeded the 25 percent capacity limit set by the governor.

Circa is is the first new casino hotel in downtown Las Vegas in 40 years, so it drew a lot of visitors' attention on Thanksgiving Day. The casino floors at other hotels were almost empty Thursday night.

The casino hotels undoubtedly would love to have more people like Candy and Doran Jones to visit. The husband and wife already had lost a total of $2,000 at three casinos as they finished their oneweek stay in Las Vegas.

The other $2,000 they had budgeted was to pay for the rest of the vacation. So, on Friday morning, the couple were walking not to the blackjack table at the D Hotel, but to the nearby Mob Museum to learn little about organized crime.

They loved their vacation but also were looking forward to going back home, where they said they don't wear masks.

Doran, who owns a septic-tank business in Illinois, said he was tired of the mandatory restrictions.

“It's uncomfortable,” he said.

At the Mob Museum on Thursday, Dave was about to start his Vegas getaway. He had driven five hours from Los Angeles to visit Sin City and take a break from new restaurant restrictions in California.

“This is a much needed break,” said Dave, who declined to give his last name. He planned to wear his mask throughout his visit.

“A lot of people think the virus is a big thing,” he said. “But as long as you're doing the right thing, we should be able to travel somewhat. I am not doing anything too wild.”

Just to be sure, Dave said he would self-quarantine for five days after his trip before going back to work.

Sisolak's new order has forced businesses to make further adjustments.

The Mob Museum stopped serving food at its basement distillery, where visitors learn about Prohibition-era bootlegging and rum running while eating and drinking.

The governor's reservation requirement for eateries didn't work for the Mob Museum because guests regularly pop in to the restaurant without advance notice, a server said. By serving alcohol only, the reservation requirement doesn't apply.

At a downtown Denny's, no one answered the phone for reservations. Instead, customers crowded outside the restaurant after putting their names on a list waiting for a table.