Las Vegas is
a city built upon dreams and ambitions, but only a small group of investors and
hotel owners have managed to survive and evolve into what Las Vegas is nowadays. Las Vegas is the product of several
visionaries including Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel and the eccentric
Howard Hughes among others; many other people have tried to come with new ways
to keep the city’s glamour alive, reinventing the city’s classic image and
mixing it with a touch of modernism and innovation. But Las
Vegas is an entity that is continuously adapting to the different
times and peoples’ interest, today Las Vegas
receives more than 40 million visitors every year, proving that the Las Vegas is one of the
few places on the planet that no matter how the economy is doing, people will
always want to visit.  But the Las Vegas hotels owners
and developers are not excluded from the possible negative effects of a
national troubled economy, however, the city will continue expanding and
improving no matter what happens in the rest of the country. May be no one back
in the 60’s would imagine the capacity of transformation that Las Vegas acquired
in the late 80’s when Sin City didn’t see significant growth in several years.ÂÂ
The City
needed a change and that exactly what happened. The Las Vegas investors and developers realized that
they needed more than neon lights and the classic shows to keep people coming to
town. Several hotel owners thought that adjusting some of the shows and that
modernizing the image would be enough, but in a city that is famous world wide for
having no boundaries people wanted more...and more…and more. That’s when the
first “mega resorts†started to appear, changing the face of the Las Vegas
Strip forever and adding an exclusive touch that makes the city one of a kind.
Projects
such as the Mandalay Bay, Wynn Las Vegas, Caesars Palace, Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino,
Luxor Hotel and Casino and many more have suddenly change the whole perspective
of the city, for many, the creation of The Mirage Hotel and Casino in 1989 was
the element that launched Las Vegas as the ultimate tourist destination, recovering
a spot that remained empty for many years. The triumph of the first mega resort
rapidly spawned a progeny of other projects including the exotic hotels such as
the medieval castle themed Excalibur Hotel and Casino, the ancient Egypt look like Luxor Hotel and the
pirate-themed Treasure Island Hotel and Casino.
Las Vegas rapidly became the home of astounding
new hotels and redefined experiences and finally the city didn’t depend mainly
on the casino gambling and sports betting revenues. The casinos were, are and
always be one of the most important aspects of the Las Vegas economy, although they are no
longer the main attractions. The truth is that the mega resorts have been the
greatest contribution to the Las Vegas imagery and economy, the success of the
mega resorts brought a completely new idea of entertainment and luxury, creating
a whole new world of unique accommodations, refreshing spas, incredible shopping
centers, gourmet restaurants, artificial beaches, rainforests, volcanoes and
all you can imagine.
