Las Vegas Casinos Luring Chinese Visitors

Las Vegas continues to be a major destination for tourists from all across the USA and beyond, and last year 42.9 million people visited the resort, marking a new record high for Sin City. Accounting for much of the success of its tourism industry is the significant investments made developing the city’s casinos and resorts to attract individuals looking for a luxury vacation experience.

Moreover, some of the constructions currently underway or recently completed have been made with a very specific type of tourist in mind, namely wealthy Chinese businessmen.

On December 3, 2016, for instance, the Lucky Dragon Hotel and Casino (photo) opened its doors, and although smaller than its competitors in Las Vegas, the Lucky Dragon has been designed entirely to cater for the tastes of Chinese traveler. The Asian themed venues comes complete with a boutique hotel, classic Chinese table games like pai gow and sic bo, as well as other Macau inspired entertainments in order to attract high rollers that have been affected by China’s ongoing anti-corruption campaign.

The Genting Group of Malaysia is also working on an integrated resort that it hopes will appeal to Chinese tourists, namely the Resorts World Las Vegas. The $7 billion project will produce a much larger resort than the Lucky Dragon, and so will have a broader appeal for the general tourist; nevertheless, much of its design has an Asian theme.

Together, the Lucky Dragon and Resorts World Las Vegas are expected to add considerably to the economy of the northern part of the Las Vegas Strip, an area which has suffered exponentially from the Great Recession. Furthermore, the focus of their attention bodes well for Las Vegas’ recovery as there has never been a better time to focus on attracting Chinese tourists.

In 2016, for instance, 2.6 million Chinese tourists visited the United States, and the US Department of Commerce estimates that the number of tourists from China will double by 2020. A new nonstop flight from Beijing to Las Vegas that began in December 2016 will also contribute to a surge in tourists visiting Sin City to check out its enticing high-end resorts.