Las Vegas Is Selling Comfort These Days

The Las Vegas marketing slogan was “What Happens Here, Stays Here” – an invitation to visitors to come and let it all hang out. That was then.

The problem now is, less is happening here. Today, Las Vegas – perhaps more than most cities – feels the cutback in consumer splurging. Visitor rates have declined, gaming revenues have dropped and retail construction has slowed down.

But these issues do not paint a fair picture of Las Vegas, according to Tom Horwitz, principal at FRCH Design Worldwide (Cincinnati), where he heads up the firm’s hospitality and restaurant studio. “By Las Vegas standards, things are down,” he says. “But they’re still way above the national average. People are still coming here. They’re just not spending as much money.”

So the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority has launched a new marketing campaign, called “Vegas Bound,” that invites travelers to think of Las Vegas not as an expensive vacation but as the place for a quick escape. “The city is trying to tap into people’s need for comfort right now,” says Horwitz.

Las Vegas needs some comfort, too. Several high-profile projects have been canceled or put on hold. Mall developer General Growth Properties has delayed the Summerlin Center mixed-use project on the west side of town. The Clock Tower at Seven Hills in Henderson was canceled. And Taubman Centers’ plans to integrate a 1.3 million-square-foot department store-anchored shopping mall into the M Resort, Spa & Casino are up in the air.

So Sin City is a ghost town? Not quite. There are still some new players in town. Steve Wynn’s new $2.3 million Encore casino resort adds 2000 rooms, a retail arcade with Chanel and Hermes, and nightclub XS to The Strip. The MGM Mirage CityCenter, an $8 billion mixed-used development between the Bellagio and Monte Carlo resorts, is expected to open by the end of the year with luxury shopping, gourmet restaurants, a movie theater and parks.

Horwitz says projects like these will provide a wow factor for the next year until the economy begins to bounce back. “There’s still a tremendous amount of stuff that’s cool in Las Vegas,” he says. “You just have to go hunt for it.”