Las Vegas
Tourism is the most
significant contributor to the economy of Las Vegas. In the past the casinos
were the one major attraction. Now shopping, conventions and fine dining are
also major forces in attracting the tourist dollar. With about 130,000 hotel
rooms, as of 2005, to fill, the conventions help fill the hotels, destination
restaurants, and shopping malls on the Strip. This has been one of the major
reasons for such a massive amount of growth and building in the area. There is a
balance between all of the tourist operations in town. The conventions need
hotel rooms, dining, and entertainment options. The hotels need the conventions,
and tourists to fill their rooms. The restaurants depend on travelers in the
hotel rooms to fill their tables. Everyone depends on a good road system to get
travelers into town as well as available and reasonably priced airline seats.
Over the past few years, retirees have been moving to the valley driving
businesses that support them, from housing to health care. Las Vegas has been
trying to expand its manufacturing and research base. There have been some
positive signs from the World Market Center being developed in the city and the
recently announced Alzheimer's research center in 2005 in addition to many
smaller businesses. While the cost of housing spiked up over 40% in 2004, the
lack of business and income taxes still makes Nevada an attractive place for
many companies to relocate to as well as expand into. Being a true 24 hour town,
call centers have always seemed to find Vegas a good place to find workers
willing to work at all hours. Construction is strong. New strip casinos take
years to build and employ thousands of workers. The same could be said of the
housing boom with new home sales around 15,000 units in 2004. With the
introduction of Turnburry Towers several years ago, developers discovered that
the was a large demand for high-end condominiums. At the end of 2004, it was
estimated that as many as 80 major condominiums were in various stages of
development.
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