Tourism continues to dominate the economic profile of Southern Nevada. At the same time, the community is making great strides in diversifying the job base and the mix of businesses that arrive at Las Vegas’ front door. The Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance recently hosted the 43rd annual Las Vegas Perspective event that provided a wide range of viewpoints, insights on major investments on the horizon, and the facts and figures that drive the overall economy. Across the panel of speakers, one thing was clear – the community must not only double down on its efforts to attract high-value firms in emerging industries, it also must embrace continued investment in tourism-related activities.
When we talk about economic diversification, it can mean different things to different people. It can mean focusing on industries outside the core tourism industry. It also can mean incubating businesses and creating new jobs within industries that don’t yet exist in Nevada. Regardless of your viewpoint, broadening the economic base is helpful in providing economic stability during periods of economic uncertainty and bringing new opportunities for local residents. The Northern Nevada economy has made great strides in advancing into new sectors that have proven critical to regional success, particularly during the pandemic.
The Southern Nevada community should continue to embrace the push for more economic vitality beyond tourism. At the moment, the Las Vegas area boasts a diversity index value of about 75 – a score of 100 would be a perfectly diverse economy that mirrors the nation. We rank as one of the least diversified economies in the country. Despite our current score, in 2020 that value stood a few points lower, and at the start of the Great Recession, the diversity index value stood at 64. More than two decades ago at the onset of the 2001 recession, Southern Nevada ranked even lower at 54. The double-digit gains in this diversity metric suggest the economy is advancing, but there is more work to do.
It is critical to ensure that we don’t abandon the industry that made Las Vegas. During the past year, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported that per-person visitor spending exploded, and overall visitor spending reached a new record of nearly $45 billion – despite the fact that there were fewer travelers to the region. That spending translated into $79 billion in economic impact, which supported over $20 billion in wages for nearly 360,000 working Southern Nevadans.
According to the Nevada Resort Association’s 2023 The Facts publication, the impacts of the industry are even greater at the state level. Beyond the economic impacts, the tax contributions to state and local governments are substantial. The tourism industry contributes nearly $2 billion toward the Nevada general fund, which accounts for 35 percent of all revenues. The result is that the overall tax burden is reduced by over $1,000 for each Nevada resident, or nearly $2,700 for every household, as a direct result of the activities generated by the tourism industry.
Looming on the horizon are countless reasons that a global audience will travel to Nevada. Beyond the multibillion-dollar assets that exist today, new project openings like the MSG Sphere and Fontainebleau will raise the bar later this year, and special events like Formula 1 and the Super Bowl will expose Las Vegas to an even wider audience.
Southern Nevada has a history of making strategic investments – some public, some private – in both the core tourism industry and the next generation of businesses and industries in the Silver State. Maintaining that momentum will pay dividends well into the future.
Members of the editorial and news staff of the Las Vegas Review-Journal were not involved in the creation of this content.