Las Vegas Mayor Shelley Berkley issued a heartfelt plea to Canadian visitors this week, acknowledging the city’s tourism-dependent economy is suffering from a dramatic decline in international visitors, particularly from Canada, which represents the city’s largest international market.
“As the mayor of Las Vegas, I’m telling everybody in Canada, please come. We love you, we need you, and we miss you,” Berkley said during a press conference this week, where she addressed the multiple challenges facing the entertainment capital’s tourism industry.
The mayor’s latest comments echo concerns she first raised in an August press conference, where she painted a stark picture of the tourism decline.
“International travel is way down. People are not coming to the United States,” Berkley said last month. “’
Great yet ?
Perhaps. Progress doesn’t need to be incremental. Vegas has supported the tourism industry for decades. The levers of power could be used to turn the tables and have the industry support the city for a change. It’s not like the money isn’t there.