Las Vegas sees fall in tourists as 'ridiculous prices' hit
Tourist numbers have fallen every month this year with 6.5 per cent fewer visitors than in 2024, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
International arrivals at Harry Reid Airport were 8.7 per cent lower in May than the same month in 2024.
It is thought that Sin City's soaring prices could be to blame for its falling visitor numbers.
A visitor recently shared her shock after she was charged $26/£19.11 for a bottle of Fiji water from the minibar in her room at the Aria Resort & Casino.
And a British magician was also left outraged after he was billed $74.31/£54.63 for two drinks at Sphere in Las Vegas.
Anthony Curtis, publisher of the Las Vegas Advisor website, told The Times: 'On the Strip, people get taken for a ride.
'Once they get here they're like, "I've had enough of this crap, I'm tired of being treated like this. I'm tired of having to pay these ridiculous prices".'
The Vegas expert explained that many casinos have 'turned their back on the middle market' in order to focus on more affluent tourists.
A 2024 study found that the average income of Las Vegas holidaymakers is now $93,000/£68,365, with many budget travellers priced out of the gambling capital.
In a Reddit post, a person who recently visited Vegas describes the city as 'amazing' but 'absurdly priced'.
The user writes: 'Walking around the different themed casinos was like a fever dream. Sadly I felt like a spectator instead of a participant. I have honestly never been to a place that was more absurdly priced.'
They claim they had to spend $30/£22 on a glass of house wine and were charged $50/£36 for two bottles of water from the minibar.
On another Reddit thread, a user says Las Vegas is 'extortionately expensive'. They wrote: 'I live in a very high cost of living area.
'Vegas is extortionately expensive. Shows. Restaurants. Everything is far more expensive in Vegas than here.'
Meanwhile, another commenter says: 'I used to love going Vegas, but the last few times I had sticker shock on everything.
'It doesn't feel like a relaxing, exciting vacation when you're price gouged up to your ears and come home feeling robbed.'
However, another traveller claims it is still possible to enjoy Vegas on a budget.
They said: 'People come to Vegas expecting champagne on a beer budget.
'You can have an amazing time in Vegas on any budget, but if your budget is on the lower end, then you may have to forego some experiences and types of restaurants.'
And another user writes: 'Yes Vegas is expensive, but it's a high end destination in a tourist area and you're getting some of the best food and service in the world.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
These are the cities where college graduates are actually landing jobs
Landing a job after graduating college can be daunting — knowing where to look for one can help. Amid a volatile economy, a tough job market and a trend of AI eliminating some entry-level jobs, New York City and Chicago may not be the best places to job hunt. Smaller cities and their surrounding areas can serve as a great place to find a new gig, new research from payroll services company ADP suggests. The job market in Raleigh, North Carolina's metro area ranked at the top of the list in terms of annual wages, hiring rates, and affordability, the study found. To rank each place, the study analyzed the annual wages of 140,000 people in their 20s, the cost of living in 55 U.S. metro areas with at least 1 million residents, and how often people in their 20s with a bachelors degree were hired within the last 12 months compared to the number of people employed in those jobs. The metro areas of Raleigh, Milwaukee, Baltimore, Austin, and Birmingham, Alabama claimed the top five spots. Raleigh, Baltimore and Austin, for example, are saturated with technology, health and financial firms, Ben Hanowell, ADP Research's director of people analytics, told the Wall Street Journal. Each of these five regions boast hiring rates of 2.8 percent or greater; Raleigh has a hiring rate of 4.2 percent, the highest of all locations analyzed. The so-called Research Triangle has been providing an influx of new jobs at nearby universities. 'We've seen this stream of office projects over the last 18 months, and North Carolina State University and some of our private colleges are all supplying this great pipeline of workers,' Kyle Touchstone, director of Raleigh Economic Development, told the Journal. Jordin Young, who graduated in 2024 from Bowdoin College, told the outlet that he took a job in Raleigh despite just knowing one person who lived there. 'I knew I wanted to explore a new city,' Young told the Journal, noting he appreciates the city's social scene, affordability, and accessibility to parks. The promising finds come as the nation's unemployment rate lingers at 4.1 percent, but jobless rates for recent grads hovers at 7.3 percent. 'There's a lot more great people than there are great jobs,' Susan De La Vega, a senior vice president at global consulting firm Korn Ferry, told the outlet. The study also looked at locations that were affordable with robust hiring but offered lower wages. These included the metro areas of Tucson, Arizona, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Cleveland, Ohio. Then there are the more expensive cities that offer high wages, but work is harder to find. Places around Boston, San Francisco and Newark, New Jersey offer high-paying jobs, but have low hiring rates.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Clark calls for more pay as WNBA labor talks intensify
INDIANAPOLIS, July 19 (Reuters) - Indiana Fever sensation Caitlin Clark called for better pay in the WNBA on Saturday as labor negotiations between the league and players intensify, while Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said she was optimistic about their latest talks. Thousands of fans wearing "Clark" jerseys packed the Gainbridge Fieldhouse for the sold-out All-Star Game on Saturday, while the wildly popular Rookie of the Year was forced to sit out after sustaining a groin injury earlier in the week. Clark was an omnipresent figure in Indianapolis in the lead-up, despite not being able to play, as her face graced ads for Nike, Wilson and Gatorade that were plastered across the city center. Asked how those brand deals stacked against her league salary, Clark responded: "That's a good question." "That's where we're really fortunate is that we have those other deals. I think that's one of the things that we're in the room fighting for," Clark told reporters. "We should be paid more. Hopefully that's the case moving forward as the league continues to grow. I think it's something that's probably the most important thing that we are in the room advocating about." The Women's National Basketball Players Association and the league met on Thursday in Indianapolis to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement after the players voted to opt out of their current deal at the end of the season. The union said after the meeting that the two sides were far apart on several issues and players were seen warming up for Saturday's game wearing shirts that read "Pay Us What You Owe Us." Commissioner Cathy Engelbert struck a different tone with reporters, saying she felt the meeting with players had been productive. "(I'm) really optimistic that we'll get something done, that it'll be transformational, and that next year at All-Star, we'll be talking about how great everything is. But obviously, there's a lot of hard work to be done on both sides," she said. Engelbert, who also oversaw the league when the last deal was struck in January 2020, has been at the helm during a period of rapid growth for the WNBA, with TV ratings and attendance climbing rapidly. "We want the same things as the players," she told reporters. "We want to significantly increase their salary and benefits while balancing with our owners their ability to have a path of profitability."
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Morgan Wallen calls out 'side chicks' in concert audience after Coldplay kiss cam CEO chaos
Morgan Wallen took a cheeky dig at audience members with 'side chicks' during his latest show - days after a CEO was infamously caught cozying up to his female colleague on a Coldplay concert kiss cam. Andrew Byron, the head of the billion-dollar AI startup Astronomer, was broadcast on the big screen at Boston's Gillette Stadium with his arm around the company's HR chief Kristin Cabot during Coldplay's gig there Tuesday night. They rapidly covered their faces, with Byron diving out of view and Cabot turning her back to the camera, but their reaction caught the attention of Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, who joked: ' Either they're having an affair, or they're just very shy.' The clip went instantly viral and Byron was placed on leave this Friday before the company announced his resignation on Saturday. Public records suggest both Byron, 50, and Cabot, 56, are married - but that they live at different addresses to each of their spouses' registered abodes. As the awkward moment exploded across the internet, Wallen, 32, appeared to make a sly reference to it at his own Friday night show in Glendale, Arizona. 'Anybody in here with their side chick or whatever, I think you're safe here,' he said in fan footage posted to TikTok, before quipping: 'I don't condone cheating…anymore.' The next morning, Astronomer issued a statement announcing that Byron had resigned from the billion-dollar company. 'As stated previously, Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding. Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met,' the statement said. 'Andy Byron has tendered his resignation, and the Board of Directors has accepted.' Cofounder and Chief Product Officer Pete DeJoy will stay on as interim CEO. 'While awareness of our company may have changed overnight, our product and our work for our customers have not. We're continuing to do what we do best: helping our customers with their toughest data and AI problems.' Byron and Cabot were caught red-faced as the kiss-cam at a Coldplay concert in Boston panned to the CEO with his arms wrapped his subordinate on Tuesday. The pair immediately ducked and turned from the cameras after realizing their faces were on the big screen. Astronomer announced the CEO's resignation on Saturday following an internal investigation that put Byron and Cabot on leave on Friday Astronomer acknowledge the awkward situation in the statement announcing Byron's resignation. 'Before this week, we were known as a pioneer in the DataOps space, helping data teams power everything from modern analytics to production AI,' the statement read. 'While awareness of our company may have changed over night our product and our work for our customers have not'. The couple have gained infamy since the moment went viral. At the time Coldplay front man Chris Martin, cracked a joke which stirred rumors over the couple's awkward reaction. 'Oh look at these two! Oh what? Either they're having an affair, or they're just very shy,' Martin said to the crowd. Public records suggest both Byron and Cabot are married - but that they live at different addresses to those listed as their spouses. Speculation of the suspected affair became the talk of the internet, and Daily Mail confirmed that Cabot is in fact currently married to another CEO. Massachusetts property documents dated in January confirmed that Cabot is currently married to Andrew Cabot, the chief executive of Privateer Rum, a Massachusetts-based booze maker. It is unclear exactly when the pair tied the knot, but the documents confirm that Cabot, whose maiden name is Stanek, was married at the time of selling a $1.8m property in Watertown, Mass, earlier this year. Privateer Rum's website lists Andrew Cabot as its CEO and COO of the company, and public documents show that he has been married at least twice before, in 1993 and 2014. He shares two children with his first wife Maud, who shared a picture of her ex-husband with Cabot looking loved up at his daughters 25th birthday party on social media in April of last year. Cabot even posed with his son Henry, 30, in the snaps, and was seen wearing a wedding ring at the event - which was missing during her cozy Coldplay date with Byron. Byron is also married, with his wife Megan Byron, removing his last name from her social media accounts shortly after the exchange with Chris Martin went viral. It comes after AI-tech start-up Astronomer said they have launched a formal investigation into the moment of intimacy. 'Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability,' they said in a statement. 'The Board of Directors has initiated a formal investigation into this matter and we will have additional details to share very shortly.' When Cabot joined the firm as HR boss in November 2024, Byron heaped praise on her, saying she would be a 'perfect fit' at his company. 'Kristin's exceptional leadership and deep expertise in talent management, employee engagement, and scaling people strategies will be critical as we continue our rapid trajectory,' he said in a press release at the time. 'She is a proven leader at multiple growth-stage companies and her passion for fostering diverse, collaborative workplaces makes her a perfect fit for Astronomer.' Byron's firm is valued at over $1 billion, with the company experiencing rapid growth since he became CEO in 2023.
