When the world ends, the Las Vegas headline will read: “World Ends: Experts Worry About Impact on Vegas Tourism.” Hence earlier this year a throwaway sentence by the president that bankers shouldn’t use bailout funds to party in Vegas resulted in the casinos and even the mayor going demagogue as if those words would destroy tourism here.
And, as convention dollars predictably fell during the worst recession in decades, locals were as likely to finger the President’s statement as the cause as blame the economy. So, Obama’s bland words taken out of context and misinterpreted wound up getting repeated over and over by those denouncing him. My point: Vegas can be so sensitive to image that the result is self defeating. (Rumor is President Obama will be coming to visit CityCenter next year one assumes to atone to local potentates for the mocked up slight.)
So, of course, the hot topic in Vegas these days: how will the Tiger Woods’ apparent extramarital harem’s Vegas contingent impact Sin City tourism? Journalist Steve Friess speaks for many in thinking that the Woods story is “one of the best things that has happened to this city in a long, long time.” He is joined by Mayor Oscar Goodman in that view. “This is great for the city,” was Goodman’s offering.
I am going to dissent here and say that if this impacts Las Vegas at all the result will be entirely negative. Everyone in a committed relationship who has a partner going to Vegas for a business trip knows what happens in Vegas. Almost all of the cheating that goes on in Vegas has nothing to do with gambling. And, a huge story like this puts trampy face(s) to the worst fears of spouses to Vegas business travelers. Rather than boost Vegas tourism, I think there is a good chance that some conversations between couples in the near future will likely end with: “Oh, no you are not going to that convention in Las Vegas!”
(Photo: Sarah Gerke. Tiger Woods and David Lee Roth: running with the devil in Vegas.)
Of course Steve Friess said it’s good for Las Vegas. He said Michael Jackson’s death was the best thing that could have happened to his music!
It’s great that Las Vegas is finally represented with a blogsite to counter his corrupt cynicism!
Nice article, Richard, but I kind of don’t agree with your ending premise about a spouse preventing a husband/wife to come to Las Vegas because of Tiger Woods’ dumb shit.
And the reason I don’t is because Las Vegas has always had a stigma, a basic misperception attributed to it by tourists. Just look at the slogan the Las Vegas Convention Visitors Authority (LCVCA) come up with. All of that stuff to draw tourists here was based on “Sin City” stuff, in that anything goes, stuff bordering on the criminal. Even though a lot of these misperceptions have no basis in fact, STILL they come here. Don’t matter what the significant other says.
And finally, I know a guy who is a private detective here in town. A majority of his business? A client (either the husband or the wife) from somewhere out of town would hire him to watch his/her spouse to see if any infidelity happened while they were here in Las Vegas. He told me MOST of his business in Las Vegas is like that. And that has been the way it is in the private detective business here for a long time. And I guarantee most of his bread and butter money is made still with clients like that.
So, what you are saying is something that everyone knows about already.
My point is this…STILL they come to Las Vegas. Won’t hurt tourism here at all.
And I even go so far as to say that most people know that Tiger Woods is a total and complete idiot that let an area between his belly button and his knees lead him around. And it got him into trouble. And he got what he deserved. My contention is Las Vegas didn’t have anything to do with that. Just like Las Vegas is not to be blamed when people come here. Las Vegas is not a living, breathing thing. It’s PEOPLE that do this stupid shit to themselves. Not Las Vegas.