Casinos are far from bereft of customers

I spent all day Tuesday on the Strip and on Fremont Street, and all I can tell you is that both places were swamped with tourists. In the evening, Fremont Street was packed as visitors perused the street vendors, tapped their feet to an Elvis Presley impersonator and his band performing on stage and took in the light show on the canopy. I'm no expert but it struck me as very busy for a Tuesday night. During the day on the Strip, there were steady streams of gawking pedestrians, and the casinos I ventured into were full of people sitting in front of slot machines and eating in restaurants.

The point of these observations is not to suggest that Vegas is back completely from the drought of the global recession. Visitor counts are down, and average tourist spending is down as well. The authorities would have no incentive to lie about such numbers. But that said, let's not get the impression the resorts are dying on the vine. Loads of people have decided to visit Las Vegas this summer, and they expect the resorts to provide great amenities and customer service.

A final thought for the day: The Fremont Street Experience light show just doesn't do anything for me, and I find it difficult to believe that anybody could get real excited about this animated hokum. Hundreds of people look to the heavens to see a George Thorogood video. Then a little later, they watch a video featuring Don Maclean's "American Pie." They watch with some curiosity, but they seem to be generally less than impressed when it's over. The Elvis Presley-led band, however, was pretty rockin'.

So, in summary: The casinos look busy, Less canopy, more live performances.