Vegas casinos draw tourists with elaborate holiday events

Associated Press

LAS VEGAS

Las Vegas has mostly shelved its attempt to rebrand itself as a family-friendly wonderland. But there’s one exception: the dreaded holiday season, when visitor numbers crater and room vacancies soar.

In an attempt to lure tourists, Las Vegas casinos are staging increasingly elaborate holiday events.

The Bellagio again has transformed its conservatory into a faux winter wonderland featuring a 42-foot-tall Christmas tree, a life-sized candy house, a walk-through snow globe and topiary polar bears, all a few paces from the gambling floor.

The casino’s famous dancing water fountains are leaping to Christmas classics, and tourists are taking photos with a 250-pound chocolate Grinch.

The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace is showing its Christmas cheer with “Elf Aquarists,” divers in elf-style wet suits who feed the aquarium’s tropical fish during daily shows.

Perhaps the most elaborate of all the exhibits is “Winter in Venice” at the Venetian, which the casino advertises as a public gift in banners strung outside its ersatz Italian facade.

December traditionally is the slowest month in Las Vegas. Last year, tourist volume fell from a high of 3.53 million visitors in March to a low of 3 million visitors in December, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. November and January didn’t look much better.

Keith Salwoski, spokesman for the Venetian and Palazzo hotel-casinos, said the winter extravaganza, now in its third year, has helped persuade families to seriously consider a holiday vacation to Sin City.

“Every photo that is shared during the holidays, for instance, helps to change the perception of the destination for the Christmas traveler. Suddenly, spending Christmas in Vegas is on the radar of travelers,” he said.

Beautifully costumed actors stroll around the casino halls, greeting children and posing for silly photos with adults. Outside, a 65-foot Christmas tree made of lights shines like a beacon, tempting pedestrians to come inside.