<p>LAS VEGAS — To Mike Anger in Midland, Michigan, a $100 round-trip airline flight and $260 for five nights at a Las Vegas hotel made it too easy to say yes.</p>
<p>“How could I turn that down?” the 39-year-old electrician asked, holding a tall vodka drink, basking in 90-degree temperatures, and soaking in the sights of street entertainers and tourists on Friday in a downtown casino pedestrian mall.</p>
<p>“I’m having a blast,” said his friend, cosmetologist Jade Topor. “Pretty much what I expected.”</p>
<p>Las Vegas has been almost elbow-to-elbow lately with pandemic-weary tourists looking for excitement and entertainment, after casinos rose from 35% to 50% occupancy March 15 under state health guidelines.</p>
<p>Capacity limits in Las Vegas casinos drop again Saturday — allowing 80% occupancy — while person-to-person distancing goes from 6 feet (1.8 meters) to 3 feet (0.9 meters). Masks are still required.</p>
<p>“People were just yearning to go someplace and let loose,” said Alan Feldman, a former casino executive who is now a fellow at the International Gaming Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. </p>
<p>Among the first arrivals were people ages 60 and older who were recently vaccinated with time and disposable income, he observed.</p>
<p>Analysts said pent-up demand, available hotel rooms and $1,400 pandemic recovery checks from the federal government have contributed to the rush.</p>
<p>“People are feeling more comfortable traveling as science appears to be getting ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Jeremy Aguero, principal analyst at Applied Analysis in Las Vegas.</p>
<p>“Late spring and early summer tend to be strong months for traditional, domestic leisure travel,” Aguero said. </p>
<p>Economic markers now are ringing up a revival on the resort corridor that was was ghostly quiet a year ago.</p>
<p>Statewide casino winnings in March topped $1 billion, the best monthly mark in eight years. Half those winnings were reaped on the Las Vegas Strip, state regulators said.</p>
<p>The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, which just launched a new ad campaign promoting freedom and a return to pre-pandemic normalcy, tallied more than 2.2 million visitors in March.</p>
<p>The figure was down 40% from March 2019, but a huge jump from a year earlier, when casinos closed from mid-March to early June. That drove the Nevada jobless rate in April 2020 above 30% — the highest ever in any state. The state now reports the rate at 8.1%.</p>
<p>Every Sunday, another weekly measure of demand arrives: A nearly 20-mile (32-kilometer) line of vehicles jamming southbound Interstate 15 near the Nevada-California state line. Lanes reduce from three in Nevada to two in California.</p>
<p>“You have visitors coming throughout the week, all leaving at the same time,” Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Travis Smaka said. “It’s very busy every Sunday.”</p>
<p>Carlo Santarelli, gaming analyst at Deutsche Bank Securities, said the boom “really accelerated in March, driven by increased vaccinations, spring break, and March Madness," the NCAA basketball championship tournaments. </p>
<p>“It’s pool season, better weather," said Lori Nelson-Kraft, senior spokeswoman for the Convention and Visitors Authority. “It’s still cold in the Midwest and Northeast."</p>
<p>Restaurants now can go to 80% occupancy, accept walk-in diners and seat tables of 12. Buffets can allow self-service supervised by employees.</p>
<p>Casino day clubs and nightclubs can open, but designated dancing areas remain closed until a specified community vaccination rate is met.</p>
<p>Clark County plans to allow 100% casino and business occupancy once 60% of its 1.8 million eligible residents get a first COVID-19 vaccine dose.</p>
<p>As of Friday, 45% of people ages 16 and older in the county had received at least one shot, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services, and almost 33% were fully vaccinated.</p>
<p>But inoculation rates have slowed, prompting Gov. Steve Sisolak to visit an MGM Resorts International employee shot clinic Thursday at the Mandalay Bay resort and at a church in heavily Hispanic east Las Vegas on Friday.</p>
<p>“The comeback is here, now,” he declared.</p>
<p>The Democratic governor has set a June 1 target for lifting almost all coronavirus mitigation restrictions statewide. Mask mandates will remain in place indefinitely.</p>
<p>That will let the convention authority host its biggest event since March 2020 — the World of Concrete trade show beginning June 8 — and debut its nearly $1 billion Las Vegas Convention Center expansion.</p>
<p>It will also showcase a new $52.5 million underground Tesla vehicle people-mover system drilled beneath the convention center by Elon Musk.</p>
<p>Show attendees, exhibitors and staff members will have to wear masks, undergo temperature checks and observe social distancing, Nelson-Kraft said, at least until Clark County changes pandemic response rules.</p>
<p>“We are not, and I have not heard from any of our show producers, that they are requiring proof of vaccinations,” she added.</p>
<p>More than three-quarters of diagnosed coronavirus cases and deaths in Nevada have been in the Las Vegas area, where almost three-fourths of the state population lives.</p>
<p>State health officials say 4,300 people have died from COVID-19 in Clark County and 243,942 cases have been reported. Statewide, there have been 5,464 deaths and 315,000 reported cases.</p>
<p>The county’s 14-day test positivity rate on Friday was 5.6% — above the World Health Organization’s goal of 5% or below to relax restrictions.</p>
<p>Still, March proved to be a good time to open Virgin Hotels Las Vegas and its Mohegan Sun Casino. They debuted five weeks ago after $200 million and more than a year of renovations of the former Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.</p>
<p>“The last week, the best way to describe it is like a light switch,” Richard “Boz” Bosworth, president and CEO of J.C. Hospitality, the property owner, said Friday. “You could just feel the energy rebuilding."</p>
<p>"What we’re all looking forward to is June 1,” he added.</p>
<p>At least 50 resident shows have resumed, including mainstays such as David Copperfield, Fantasy revue, Carrot Top, Penn & Teller and the Laugh Factory. But not all acts at all venues are going forward.</p>
<p>Events drawing more than 20,000 people can reopen after case-by-case reviews of safety plans by the Southern Nevada Health District.</p>
<p>The Electric Daisy Carnival disappointed ticket-buyers when it postponed from May to October its multi-day event at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.</p>
<p>But a July 10 MMA fight featuring Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier quickly sold out more than 20,000 seats at T-Mobile Arena. The venue has been hosting NHL Vegas Golden Knights games with limited audiences.</p>
<p>Newly announced big names include Bruno Mars July 3 at the Park MGM and Usher scheduled in August at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace.</p>
<p>Cirque du Soleil resumes the first of its big acrobatic productions, “Mystére,” on June 28, and its aquatic-themed “O” at Bellagio on July 1.</p>
<p>Still, gambling is what draws many Las Vegas fans. And lately, slot machine jackpots have taken on a bell-clanging rate.</p>
<p>A tourist from Alaska won more than $2.1 million last weekend; a visitor from New Mexico won a $10.5 million Megabucks payout on Tuesday; a man won $2.9 million Wednesday on a Wheel of Fortune machine; and someone won $1.2 million early Friday at a downtown casino. None of the winners have been publicly identified.</p>
