I’ve lived in Las Vegas since 1994 and, prior to semi-retirement, spent much of that time in tourism promotion and as a business analyst — fitting, because for decades, business in Nevada meant gaming and tourism.
Your recent story “Why are tips so low in Nevada?” was a good primer, but the issues are deeper.
The extremely high price of food and beverage on the Strip is indeed a driving factor. Those of us who work closely with regular visitors know the overwhelming reason tourism is down is that many feel there is price gouging on the Strip.
People still love Las Vegas. People still badly want to visit. But people set budgets for gambling, food and the rest. If you used to get a hamburger, fries, and a drink for $30 on the Strip and now the hamburger alone costs $30, staying within budget means cutting the tip.
And a “if you can’t afford it, don’t come” thought doesn’t hold weight. The entire Strip has high prices, aside from a few “best kept secrets” that the average visitor will never know about. So the “don’t come” concept means even fewer visitors, and that’s exactly what’s happening.
Some Strip restaurants also now charge a “concession and franchise” fee that’s hidden as much as possible on the bill. It’s not a sales tax. It’s not a tip. But it jacks up the cost of the meal. Many easily assume it’s some sort of auto-gratuity. Some tip on top of it anyway, but not nearly as much as if they were handling the full tip themselves.
Finally, locals’ restaurants and bars face a related, overlooked factor: migration and job diversification. Las Vegas used to have a workforce heavy with tourism jobs, and tourism workers tend to be good tippers themselves. As tourism numbers fall and our economy diversifies into other industries, that pool of good local tippers is shrinking.
