On the third weekend of every April, Emily Ann Frankston and her family—spread out over five states—meet up in Las Vegas for their annual family vacation. This year was different. The only ones to show up were Frankston, her husband and her brother-in-law, and they stayed just two nights instead of the traditional three. "My two sisters back east said airfares were too high, my mother-in-law lost her job in January, and some of the others said they were busy, but we think they didn't want to spend the money," says Frankston, 37, who drove in from the Phoenix area. "We've done this for the past nine years. Even after 9/11 we all came. But this year's it's just us. This recession is really hurting everyone.""What happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas" or so goes the adage.
If only that could be said about the profits. Like the rest of America, Las Vegas is feeling the recessionary pinch as its gambling revenues dip downward for one of the only times in the gilded city's history.
Foreclosures and declining profits have hit hard in America's capital of kitsch, where the shift to family friendly entertainment, is now making the previously recession proof Sin City susceptible to the traditional highs and lows the tourism industry.
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