Resorts World to Open in Las Vegas as Business Rebounds After Covid-19 – The Wall Street Journal

LAS VEGASThe first new megacasino on the Strip in more than a decade, the $4.3 billion Resorts World, opens here this week as throngs of mostly maskless tourists indulge in the citys famous casinos once again.

Malaysias Genting Group developed the 3,500-room hotel with 117,000 square feet of gambling space, 250,000 square feet of meeting space, a 5,000-seat theater where Celine Dion and Katy Perry begin residencies later this year and seven swimming pools overlooking the north end of the Strip. It is one of the biggest resort projects ever on the famed boulevard, similar in scope to the Bellagio or the Venetian.

After a historic shutdown last year, Las Vegas casinos began to reopen cautiously one year ago, in early June 2020, with mask requirements, plexiglass barriers and limited offerings beyond gambling. Today, evidence of the global health crisis is fading as crowds of tourists pack casinos, pools, shows and restaurants.

Were so lucky that were opening at this time, said Scott Sibella, Resorts World Las Vegas president. We were going to open one way or another. We planned this a year and a half ago. We announced the date. But its clearly getting better in Las Vegas.

For April, using the most recent figures available, about 2.6 million people visited Las Vegas, about 73% of pre-pandemic visitation compared with April 2019 when the city welcomed 3.5 million visitors.

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Resorts World to Open in Las Vegas as Business Rebounds After Covid-19 - The Wall Street Journal