‘Bang for your buck’: Tourism is slumping in Las Vegas, but not in this rural casino town

LAUGHLIN — Jeff Pickering was outside the Aquarius casino, holding a 24-ounce can of hard seltzer and wearing a button-down, short-sleeve shirt with an unmistakable theme: Vegas.

The retro-style shirt had the iconic “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign on it, along with dice, playing cards, cocktail glasses and the stylish “Stardust” name from the long-gone hotel’s neon sign along the Strip.

Pickering, however, had no plans to visit the famed gambling mecca roughly 100 miles from Laughlin, the much smaller, quieter and cheaper casino town he was visiting from his home in Washington state.

“The prices in Vegas are out of control,” said his wife, Karlena Pickering.

Laughlin, with a string of hotel-casinos along the Colorado River, is a fraction of the size of Las Vegas. It has long offered a low-priced, low-frills getaway and drawn a mostly older crowd that largely drives in for their trips, including in RVs.

And this year, according to tourism data, visitor totals have climbed in Laughlin and dropped in Las Vegas.

The numbers do not mean that waves of cost-conscious travelers are suddenly ditching flashy Las Vegas for sleepier Laughlin, as the rural town is by no means flooded with visitors. But by all accounts, Laughlin’s main selling point — an affordable vacation — keeps attracting tourists amid national economic jitters.

“You get a lot of bang for your buck here,” said Diana Fuchs, marketing and entertainment director for the Riverside Resort.

‘Fee after fee after fee’

Around 22.6 million people visited Las Vegas this year through July, down 8 percent, or a drop of almost 2 million people, from the same seven-month stretch last year, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

Laughlin, southeast of Las Vegas, drew 859,000 visitors this year through July. That was up 6 percent, or a gain of 49,000 people, from the same period last year, the LVCVA reported.

Fewer people are visiting Las Vegas amid financial headwinds and as President Donald Trump’s trade wars spark widespread economic anxiety. After a stretch of high inflation, people still face elevated prices on everyday goods, credit card balances have climbed and hiring around the country has largely stalled, all while higher tariffs on imports could push up prices yet again.

On top of all this, there has also been growing frustration over resort fees, parking charges, food and drink costs, and other expenses in Las Vegas that can give visitors sticker shock and make America’s casino capital a pricey place to visit.

Casino operators and others in Las Vegas have rolled out price breaks in recent months to boost business. But if someone feels less secure in their finances or future job prospects, not taking a trip to Vegas can be an easy way to save cash.

Trevor Chiodini, co-owner of London Bridge Jet Boat Tours in Laughlin, said that the last time he was in Las Vegas, it cost him $17 for a rum-and-Coke.

He also said that Las Vegas has “fee after fee after fee.”

“Who would want to go there?” he said.

‘Tremendous value’

Steve Hill, president and chief executive of the LVCVA, said Laughlin “offers tremendous value,” but he doesn’t see a correlation between its rise in visitor totals and the drop in Las Vegas.

More people nationwide are concerned about their finances and hesitating to travel, he said, adding that during the summer, Las Vegas is heavily reliant on leisure travel amid a seasonal lull in trade shows and other events.

Regular vacationers are the ones with financial concerns, he said, not conventioneers whose companies pay for their trips.

However, Hill said that drive-in markets such as Laughlin are doing well, noting that casino operators’ regional U.S. properties are performing well because customers are shying away from trips that stretch their budgets more.

Laughlin isn’t the only rural gambling outpost on a different trajectory than Las Vegas.

In Mesquite, some 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas, visitor totals this year through July fell 2.1 percent from the same period last year, a smaller drop than in Las Vegas.

A popular golfing destination, Mesquite is an even smaller tourism market than Laughlin. The city has three casino-resorts and offers a quick getaway for residents of both the Las Vegas area and southern Utah.

Mesquite’s average daily room rate this year through July was up 9.4 percent from the same period last year, compared with a 3.9 percent jump in Laughlin and 5.1 percent drop in Las Vegas, according to LVCVA data.

Moreover, gambling revenue in Mesquite this year climbed 5.9 percent during that timeframe — compared with a 0.2 percent bump on both the Las Vegas Strip and in Laughlin.

Gambling town

At the Riverside Resort, which was opened in the 1960s by Laughlin’s namesake, the late developer Don Laughlin, the casino floor was busy on a recent Tuesday.

With a crowd of mostly seniors, it didn’t have the buzz of a Vegas resort. But guests were spending money as they gambled at slot machines and table games and ate in restaurants.

MaryKay and Mark Macke, retirees from Wisconsin, came to the Riverside with comps for both their charter flight and their hotel room — perks that are earned through gambling.

Heather and Jack Birkland, retirees from Yuma, Arizona, were drawn by an offer for two free nights at the resort.

The last time they were in Las Vegas, it was “overwhelming,” Heather Birkland said, citing the traffic and construction.

It’s much easier to navigate Laughlin, but she especially likes a few other features in the town.

“Just the gambling. … And the restaurants are usually pretty good,” she said.

Jeremy Jenson, general manager of Aquarius and Edgewater, said in a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal that Laughlin has seen “steady momentum” over the past few years.

He also said that casino and tavern operator Golden Entertainment has broadened its audience mix, drawing “younger and more diverse visitors alongside longtime loyal guests.”

“Value is a key driver,” he said.

Overall, Laughlin’s visitor base is not as heavily skewed toward retirees as it used to be, but it still relies more on seniors than Las Vegas.

Last year, 27 percent of Laughlin’s visitors were retired, compared with 7 percent of Las Vegas’ visitors, according to data released by the LVCVA.

Laughlin’s tourists also come to win.

Last year, 92 percent of its visitors gambled during their stay, compared with 78 percent of visitors to Las Vegas, the LVCVA reported.

Of course, Las Vegas’ menu of offerings outside its casino floors is vastly larger, with concerts, comedy acts, magic shows, sporting events, shopping malls, restaurants, bars, nightclubs, dayclubs, strip clubs, and much more.

Headliners

Like other tourist destinations, Laughlin can’t match Las Vegas’ array of entertainment options. But the town has its own share of recreation, including big-name acts.

Country-music stars Miranda Lambert and Jason Aldean have upcoming performances at the Laughlin Event Center this fall. Also, two movie-star comedians are set to perform in town next month: Marlon Wayans at Tropicana Laughlin and Kevin Hart at Harrah’s Laughlin.

Still, a key draw is the Colorado River, where people can take boat rides, zip around on jet skis or just enjoy the scenery.

Brea Chiodini, who owns London Bridge Jet Boat Tours with her husband, said their business is “having a pretty decent year,” noting some aspects are up but another is slightly down.

But overall, she said it doesn’t seem like Laughlin is feeling the pinch that other tourist destinations are grappling with.

She also noted the cost of taking a vacation in this corner of Southern Nevada is much different than in Las Vegas.

“There’s a significant drop in pricing when you get down here,” she said.

Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342. Review-Journal staff writer Richard N. Velotta contributed to this report.