It’s hard to face the fact that America’s once “fastest growing city” is now facing a financial crisis. What was once dubbed as untouchable by hard times, is now facing its toughest times. It’s made very clear as soon as you arrive to Vegas, get on a cab and head for your hotel of choice. Numerous constructions projects are at a stand-still and you can feel an air of economy crash when you read bill boards that say “$29 dollar rooms”. Just like any other tourist driven city, Las Vegas has had to adapt and change its direction to try and weather a storm that was predicted by few and laughed at by many.

In a recent interview with 3 of Nevada’s top gaming executives, now retired, we got a glimpse of what manning the ship of some of the most profitable casinos in Vegas was like. They made many of the hard decisions that have helped carve a booming economy in Nevada, but are also labeled as part of the problem for what has happened to Sin City in the past year. Phil Satre, former CEO of Harrah’s Entertainment; Don Snyder, former president of Boyd Gaming; and Glen Christenson, former CFO of Station Casinos, were at one point, three of the most important decision makers on the Strip. In a special interview with the Las Vegas Sun newspaper, the big three gave their opinions on what’s been going on with the economy and what they would have done had they still been in power while the current financial situation was taking place. All three agreed that the current crisis was not foreseeable, but was expected because of the way people had access to expendable money through 401k’s, appreciated home values and credit.

They also mentioned that a change was needed to keep Vegas and its economy afloat, especially when it concerns over 2 million people that reside in the area.

The response from this interview wasn’t all positive from the Las Vegas Sun readers, as many of them who have been living in the Las Vegas area are familiar with the way casinos have been operated throughout the past 30 years, so it was natural that the majority of them blamed the head of giant corporations for what’s happening to their city at the moment. The interview follows many irate comments by readers pointing out their mistakes. The fact is Las Vegas is in need of a jump start so that it overcome the recession whether it comes from creating a new tag line for the city or from investing in the existing community and building away from gambling, either way it’s a bit of a gamble.

 

Source: Las Vegas Sun