Tourists flock to Vegas with $1,400 stimulus checks after Nevada rolls back Covid restrictions: 'Thanks Joe'
Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak has lifted the Covid-19 ban that had kept casinos, bars, and restaurants shut in Las Vegas. With the rules being relaxed, the state has allowed casinos, bars, and restaurants to reopen at 50 percent capacity.
According to a report in Daily Mail, many who made use of this relaxation had one person to thank - President Joe Biden. Hotels too made use of this relaxation to hike prices but that did not stop people from coming to the city and hitting the casinos.
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The price quoted by The Strat were $179-a-night compared to $50 during the summer, while the Cosmopolitan had increased rates to $610. These two were not the only ones to make use of the relaxation. Paris Las Vegas, a stay that quoted rooms for a bargain price of $55 in July last summer has raised their price now to $284. At neighboring Bally's, stays shot up to $269, while drink prices were hiked, with domestic Dos Equis beers selling for $13 a bottle.
Ashley Stafford, 37, who works at a restaurant, said, "People are totally out spending their stimulus checks – the crowds are huge and different than usual." She also added, "I'm a bit surprised to see this many people given that Covid is still a problem, especially all the people who aren't wearing masks."
Mary, who is from Atlanta and was celebrating turning 30 in Sin City, was quoted as saying, "We're absolutely spending our checks. Thanks Joe!" She then said, "I love it here. Vegas is something else. I'm not totally surprised by how busy it is because it's Spring Break and March Madness. I was expecting it to be busy, although maybe not this busy."
San Diego resident Lucy Perez was also in Vegas with friends Adriana Quiroz, 24, and Ruby Nonega, 27. Perez said, "I wasn't expecting it to be so busy. But now people have got their stimulus checks, they've been sitting home for a long time so they want to get out and spend it."
21-year-old Mani Easter from Contra Costa County said that the stimulus check was intrumental in making her visit happen. She said, "Everyone's celebrating their stimulus checks and loving it here because it's so open. I wanted to come here because I knew nothing would be closed. I really wanted to get some normality. I'm loving the lights – I love the lights and the freedom. You can't beat it!"
Las Vegas was hit hard as it was shut down completely between April and June 2020. According to tourist board figures, the number of visitors went down by 55 percent in comparison to 2019. It was reported a record number of staff members had to be laid off because of the shutdown.