LETTER: What Las Vegas should do to win back tourists

Two articles recently caught my eye: Strip hotels are refusing to eliminate their resort fees, and their convenience stores are using price-surging techniques.

The resort fees add, in many cases, a considerable amount to a room cost, and yet many tourists are not here to use the facilities those fees supposedly cover. As for the price surging, this practice is the more-well-dressed cousin of price gouging.

Tired tourists, at the end of the day, are most likely not thinking of stopping at the Walgreens or CVS to pick up a bottle of water or beer. They just want to get back to their rooms. They pass the convenience kiosk and suddenly decide they do need that water or want that beer, and — bam! — they are price gouged.

If the downward trend in Las Vegas tourism continues (even discounting the political angle), there may not be a Las Vegas as we know it in five years. As a local, there are stars appearing on the Strip that I would love to see, but I can’t let myself dig up $500 to $700 for a ticket — and double that if you want a companion with you.

Las Vegas is not the entertainment value it once was, nor is it an entertainment capital. Casinos have popped up all over the country where folks can gamble. I rarely go to the Strip, and I live 30 minutes away. If I had to book airfare, pay for hotel room, spend a fortune on eating and headliners and then pay $20 for a bottle of water, I’d rather go to New York City.