Is Las Vegas back? You can bet on it.

As we head into Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of the summer travel season, one thing is clear: the pent up demand is very, very real. Las Vegas, which just last week announced it would end all pandemic-related restrictions on June 1, isnt wasting any time.

As SFGATE has recently reported, hotel prices are up significantly for the most sought-after destinations (Hawaii, Florida, anywhere with a beach) while many cities remain a relative bargain compared to pre-pandemic times. One big city bucking the trend is Las Vegas over the last six months, from December 2020 to May 2021, average hotel prices in Las Vegas have risen from $134 to $179, according to hotel search site Trivago.coms Hotel Price Index.

Sin City at dusk.

The citys reopening is owed, in large part, to a notably successful campaign by the citys tourism industry, which has been using a wide range of carrots (strip club vaccinations, anyone?) and sticks to encourage the citys hospitality and service staff to get vaccinated. The casinos, in particular, have some of the highest employee vaccination rates in the city.

Considering tourism is estimated to contribute some $57.6 billion to the citys economy (in 2018, the last year for which data is available), according to the Convention and Visitors Authority, its no wonder the casinos have made such a concerted, and effective, effort. And it has paid off.The Cosmopolitan, which had its own inoculation site, distributed $1 million in cash bonuses to reward its workforce for a high vaccination rate which stands at 84 percent, the company told the Washington Post.

The (other) City of Lights.

By all accounts, the City of Second Chances is looking a lot like its pre-pandemic self. May is always the citys busiest month and, with gaming floors open at 100 percent capacity (and no social distancing) at many resort-casinos including MGMs Bellagio, Mandalay Bay The Mirage, New York-New York, Luxor, Excalibur and ARIA resorts the Strip is starting to look a lot like the buzzing, bustling adult playground you know and maybe even love.

The monorail is even starting back up on May 27, with trains arriving every 4 to 8 minutes at each of its seven stations: the MGM Grand, Ballys/Paris Las Vegas, Flamingo/Caesars Palace, Harrahs/Linq, Las Vegas Convention Center, Westgate/Convention Center, and the Sahara, reports the Las Vegas Sun.

Panoramic view of the Stratosphere Casino Hotel & Tower (on left) and The Strip (on right), Las Vegas.

Clark County allowed buffets to reopen beginning on May 1 when it relaxed rules for other staples of Vegas life like tattoo parlors and dance floors. The MGM Grands buffet is reopening May 26 at 7 a.m., for the first time since March 2020.

The biggest buffet news, reported breathlessly by Eater Las Vegas, is about Caesars Palace's Bacchanal Buffet, which underwent a $2.4 million renovation in order to reopen earlier this month.

The 25,000-square-foot, 600-seat Bacchanal Buffet reopened with throngs of crowds waiting to explore the nine open, interactive kitchens, with many dishes already individually prepared, shared, or plated in real-time by staff from behind the counters, reports Eaters Susan Stapleton. At $64.99 per person, its not for everyone. It is, however, a culinary spectacle befitting its hometown.

For the first time since 2010, Sin Citys famed stretch is welcoming a new arrival next month. The Resorts World Las Vegas is scheduled to open on June 24, according to Travel & Leisure. The complex is made up of three separate hotels: the 1,774-room Las Vegas Hilton, the 1,496-room Conrad Las Vegas and the Crockfords Las Vegas, with 236 rooms and suites.

The 88-acre property will have 40 different restaurants and bars, a 5,000-capacity concert venue, some 70,000 square feet of retail space, a 100,000-square-foot boutique mega club, a Bali-inspired day club, and a five-and-a-half-acre pool area with Vegass largest pool deck.

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Is Las Vegas back? You can bet on it.