In The News: Department of Hospitality Management
While visitors and pundits continue to grapple with affordability concerns in Las Vegas, a few casino operators are separating themselves by resisting the industry鈥檚 post-COVID march toward higher prices and fewer player-friendly perks.
While visitors and pundits continue to grapple with affordability concerns in Las Vegas, a few casino operators are separating themselves by resisting the industry鈥檚 post-COVID march toward higher prices and fewer player-friendly perks.
Las Vegas has had a rough go of it this year, with tourism down about 8 percent compared to 2024, according to the most recent report from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA). Restaurants have been hit hard, and dozens of neighborhood diners and upscale celebrity restaurants alike have closed their doors, most of them permanently.
Fewer available workers, supply chain disruptions and overall economic pressures have combined to produce fewer job openings in the foodservice and hospitality sectors this year, according to the National Retail Federation. Meanwhile, experts told The Food Institute the labor outlook for 2026 doesn鈥檛 seem any brighter.
Visitors to Las Vegas are noticing thinner crowds at popular spots like the airport and the Strip, and many are embracing the change.
These days, local taxes can easily add more than $100 to the bill for a hotel stay - and the businesses don't even get the money. Your hotel bill may soon be getting higher - and it could have nothing to do with the room rate.
Your hotel bill may soon be getting higher 鈥 and it could have nothing to do with the room rate. A number of cities are upping the taxes they levy on hotel guests. The add-on expense, sometimes referred to as a 鈥渂ed tax鈥 or 鈥渢ourist tax,鈥 can equate to hundreds of dollars in certain instances, depending on the locale and how long a guest stays.
Mention Las Vegas to just about anyone, and images of the Strip with its bright lights, casinos, and unmatched energy likely come to mind. But beneath the shine, Las Vegas isn鈥檛 having its best moment. Although it might not be obvious to the average visitor, the city has been quietly battling a slowdown.
Mention Las Vegas to just about anyone, and images of the Strip with its bright lights, casinos, and unmatched energy likely come to mind. But beneath the shine, Las Vegas isn鈥檛 having its best moment. Although it might not be obvious to the average visitor, the city has been quietly battling a slowdown.
Those semiannual transitions between daylight saving time and standard time can be disorienting, leaving us an hour more tired in one direction or the other. In addition to making us bleary-eyed sooner 鈥 or later 鈥 in the day than our bodies are used to, these time changes have an impact on the restaurant industry, as customers' body clocks adjust in terms of eating times as well as when they sleep. Whether you operate a standalone restaurant or are at the helm of a chain or franchise 鈥 which aren't the same thing 鈥 daylight saving time can definitely shake up your business.
Las Vegas may feel the effects of a potential government shutdown, but experts suggest the impact might not be as severe as feared.
A federal government shutdown could cost the travel industry $1 billion a week and deliver a punishing blow to Las Vegas鈥 already faltering tourism economy, industry experts say, as mounting delays, unpaid airport workers and rising uncertainty deter visitors while Congress remains bitterly divided over keeping the government open.