Transcript for Leaving Las Vegas?

Hello, I'm Molly and this is Rocketboom.

What happens in Vegas never truly stays in Vegas.

That is unless it's your money.

Now not even leaving your money is staying in Vegas.

And the city is dealing with some issues.

Las Vegas, Nevada has long been the destination of choice

for high rolling vacationers.

And never more so than between the years of 2003 and 2008.

Marked by an annual rise in visitor spending

to over 10 billion dollars.

Gross gamin revenue during the same period

rose by 3 billion dollars

with the majority of spending on hospitality and leisure services.

Cha-Ching.

In order to accommodate the influx of new spending

new casinos, hotels, and restaurants were built

creating thousands of high paying working class jobs.

For comparison

The median wage for a tipped food service worker in New York

in 2008 was $5.81.

In Minnesota, in case anyone was wondering about Minnesota

that same job paid $7.36.

In Las Vegas, a food service worker in a casino

made $17.35 an hour.

And the tips are even greater than the base wage.

For many, Las Vegas became the city of opportunity

where the American dream of upward mobility was within reach.

Since the economy crashed out in the middle of 2008

with tourist related spending down across the country

how does Las Vegas measure up?

In 2007, while many were still in denial of the coming colapse

mortgage defaults from investors in Nevada

were already the highest in the nation.

By April is 2008

Las Vegas led the nation in defaults by home owners.

And unemployment is now above 11%.

significantly higher than the national average.

So, what now?

Harvey Perkins, a gambling consultant for Spectrum Gaming

recently told the Wall STreet Journal:

"I think that people have fundamentally changed their spending habits."

And he speculates that Las Vegas hotels, restaurants, and casinos

will need to be reengineered to become a destination

for budget-minded tourists.

To...

Many Las Vegas residents were disappointed in February

to find that the 800 Billion dollar recovery and reinvestment act 2009.

Didn't allot a single dollar to tourism.

Last month, senators Harry Reid and John Ensign

proposed the travel promotion act

which would take extra measure to market Las Veagas

as a tourist destination to foreign visitors.

A "why your here, why not check out Vegas" kind of thing.

Will Vegas find a way to incite visitors in these down times

before the current exodus takes too large of a toll

on this human-made desert oasis?

Time is money.

Time will tell.