LVCVA to Vegas Tourists: Stay Away!

Here is my rant, my opinion on the lesson learned from the F1 Grand Prix race in Las Vegas, the catastrophe that it is for the everyday Las Vegas tourists, and the treatment we received from F1 and the LVCVA.

When you rent a hotel room in Nevada, they charge you a Room Tax on top of every other tax they add on. Part of that room tax supports what are called “territories” in Nevada. Each territory is tasked with using some of that money to help promote tourism in that territory.

Here in Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority manages the honey pot of money. Better known as the LVCVA. The LVCVA seems to think that money is theirs to use as they want.

And many times, it’s not for the betterment of Las Vegas tourism in general but for the betterment of MGM Resorts International. What’s good for MGM is good for MGM and the LVCVA. And maybe the average, everyday tourist.

So now, we have this catastrophe called the F1 Grand Prix. As I write this, the plans are in the making for round two, and this is where the LVCVA is telling you, the average tourist to Las Vegas, to Stay Away from here. For your own good, do not visit Las Vegas from the end of September to the end of November 2024 To them, this is too important of an event to have you here, wanting to have a good time.

Early October is when the arrogant operators of F1 will begin to arrive and again take over the strip. Literally, as we saw this year, they run the show. The LVCVA is there to pick up the scraps, open the room tax-funded checkbook, and do/spend whatever their F1 Masters tell them to.

No Plan Needed

Steve Hill, the installed President/CEO of the LVCVA, even admitted in interviews that they went into the agreement with no real plan on who would pay what. Saying they will work on it as they go along. No problems there?

Imagine if you were in charge of a multi-million dollar organization, and you went to the stakeholders (tourists) and told them, “It’s going to be a billion-dollar event, but we have no real solid financial plan on how and who will pay for what; we will just make it up as we go along. Ok? So, trust us.”

Just how long do you think that CEO would be employed? Here, he is not only still employed, but being paid a huge salary with an unimaginable bonus every single year. I can only imagine the size of a bonus he will get this year for this catastrophe.

And why not? They have an open expense account to use whenever they want without any real oversight. The only oversight is the LVCVA Board. Thats filled with the properly connected people who sit in monthly meetings, fawning over how well Steve Hill has single-handedly boosted tourism in Las Vegas each year. All by himself.

Now We Know

So now we know by their words and their actions with the first F1 event – they don’t care about the real tourists that keep the town alive. Nor do they care about the small businesses and the people who work on the Strip and must make a paycheck to live in this ever-increasingly expensive town.

Steve Hill can sleep well each night as long as the MGM Resorts are okay. All others need not concern him. Apparently, in the minds of him and others, all this chaos and disruption of the tourism economy in order to host this one weekend of kissing the backsides of billionaires and millionaires is worth the risk of alienating the people who come here the other 360 days of the year.

So, for two months, maybe more, the LVCVA doesn’t want to see your low rent backside in this town. Have you got it?

If You Do Come

If you do come here, expect to see lots of chaos. Roads are closed, lanes are blocked off, which means the traffic on the Strip will be worse than it already is. Gridlock. Expect long delays when calling for an Uber or getting a cab at your hotel. Then, expect about 45 minutes of travel time for each block they have to go to get to where you want to be.

All for one night of racing.

Want to see the Bellagio Fountains? Sorry, you can only listen and watch for the big bursts of water because the rest of the show is covered up by fencing, construction equipment, and blockades, all needed to set up the VIP buildings.

Want to take a walk down the Strip to enjoy what should be the exciting sights and sounds that your friends gushed about on their last Vegas vacation? Too bad. It’s a chaotic mess; deal with it.

Since only one sidewalk is open, think of the most cramped elevator you have ever been on. Have it in your mind? Now, imagine that crowded elevator as the Strip. The Strip, which is normally a pickpocketer’s heaven, is now on steroids.

But for Steve Hill and the LVCVA, that’s a good thing. Their response to all this has been just what the F1 people said the first day they arrived here and discovered the chaos they were creating: “Deal with it.” To them, your pain is their pleasure.

To the LVCVA, if you don’t come here for those six weeks, or ever again, they are ok with that. In their mind, one weekend of F1 racing is worth the loss of your continued business.

Not Part of the “in” Crowd

I have never been one to hang out with the pretty and popular people. I don’t like the phoneyness of it all. Everybody agrees to whatever the hot topic is as they smile and nod their heads. Not sure what they are agreeing to. But as long as the freebies keep coming, they keep the chapstick handy.

That’s not me. Yes, I know; I’m supposed to be like all the other popular Vegas vloggers/bloggers. Writing about how wonderful this little hamlet is to visit now that two corporations almost entirely own it.

I am supposed to tell you all the fantastic reasons you should be happy about the fact that your continued support of Las Vegas and your hard-earned money being spent over many visits instead of all in one weekend is not important enough for the overlords to care if you enjoy your stay here or not.

As long as Steve Hill can continue getting paid those huge bonuses without anyone questioning his work decisions or lack of understanding that it takes more than one resort to make it all work, everything is good in Vegas land.

Karma Anyone?

Like many people, I believe in Karma. I think the Las Vegas resorts, the LVCVA, and Steve Hill will soon have Karma biting at their backside.

To appease the F1 Gods, they pissed on the real people who come here the other 360 days a year. They pissed on all the people who show up every day to keep those resort’s doors open. They even pissed on the small businesses that cater to the wants and needs of you, the everyday tourists.

But with the current administration trying to get us into WW3 and letting the country go to hell with rapid inflation and wokeism. With the fear of terrorism and the shrinking dollar here and abroad about to get worse, not to mention the continued threat of a government lockdown right before an election (imagine that), I believe things are about to get nasty for Las Vegas tourism.

There will be a day soon, as it has happened several times in the last two decades when we wake up one day and realize that tourism to Las Vegas dropped off the cliff last night and is in freefall. All those rooms are going empty. What will the resorts and the LVCVA do?

As if on cue, the resorts, the LVCVA, and Steve Hill (unless he’s fired by then) will put on big smiles and come to all of us who they pissed on to make F1 happen and ask, “Why are you not coming here to visit?”

And the thing is, they will be totally baffled as to the reasons why the everyday tourists stopped coming here. Completely Clueless.

So, if you are starting to plan your vacations for next year, Do yourself a favor. Put a giant question mark next to Las Vegas, especially if it’s anywhere around October and November.

(F1 Grand Prix 2024 November 21-23, 2024)

According to the LVCVA, they don’t want you here. Stay Away! Go somewhere that really likes you and your money.

Orlando, I hear, is nice that time of year..

The opinionated rant is now over.

Thank You!