Tourism in Las Vegas and Dubai - Essay Example

?Tourism in Las Vegas and Dubai: A Comparative Study Introduction Tourism as a fast growing industry has become one of the stable and potential source of revenue to many countries across the world. The global tourism sector has identified two major trends emerging; people visiting domestic tourist attractions such as hill stations, seashores, and historical places, and people travelling overseas to visit and enjoy foreign destinations. Today, the global tourism industry represents a notable percent of the global GDP and creates a wide range of employment opportunities. Reports indicate that the tourism sector is significantly contributing to the economic growth of emerging countries like India and Brazil. Las Vegas and Dubai represent two hot points in the global tourism map. These two desert cities have grown from dusty outposts to globally known tourist destinations over a short period of time. Las Vegas is globally recognised as the entertainment capital of the world and this tourist destination is prominent for its casino hotels and related entertainment activities. Dubai is also a famous global destination that attracts visitors on the strength of wonderful shopping experiences and other ancient and modern attractions. Despite political, economical, social, and environmental differences, Las Vegas and Dubai uphold prominent positions as the most attractive tourist destinations of the world, for these two cities  have notably contributed to their home countries’ GDP even in the midst of the recent  global financial crisis. This paper will evaluate the tourism sector of Las Vegas and Dubai and explore further scope of tourism development in these cities. Overview of tourism in Las Vegas and Dubai Las Vegas witnessed unprecedented positive changes in its tourism industry throughout the second half of the 20th century. During this time, this city was one of a few global tourist destinations that offered entertainments like casino gambling. However, by the end of the last century, global competition was on the rise, and therefore Las Vegas’ tourism sector had to face some potential market challenges. To worsen this issue, the turn of the 21st century brought numerous severe economic problems as well. However, the city successfully survived those challenges through “a remarkably consistent stream of reinvention” (McCallister). The proliferation of the gaming industry over the last few decades forced Las Vegas tourism sector to strengthen its market position. In spite of these challenges, Las Vegas still remains to be a hot choice for tourists across the globe. Official data indicate that 39,727,022 people visited Las Vegas in 2012 (Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority). While analyzing the latest financial reports, it seems that the region’s tourism sector has begun to recover from the global financial crisis. According to the financial data released by the Gaming Control Board, the city’s revenues on the Strip increased by 3.6% to reach $580.7 million in October 2012 as compared to the revenues realized in the same period a year ago (Higgins 2012). In addition, the region’s tourism industry produced nearly 16,000 jobs in leisure and hospitality sectors since the worst of the recent global recession in November 2009 (Rossi 2011). Stratosphere, the tallest observation tower in the Western US, is one of the major attractions of Las Vegas. It offers spectacular views and amusement rides like SkyJump, Insanity, Big Shot, and X-Scream (Las Vegas Sun). The fountains at Bellagio is another well known attraction of the Las Vegas Strip. The dancing waters choreographed to popular music greatly amuse visitors. Another prominent attraction is Las Vegas Strip’s Fashion Show Mall, one of the largest enclosed malls in the United States. It contains many stores, restaurants, seven flagship department stores, fashion runway, and other facilities. The city’s 3.9-mile Monorail system gives a wonderful transport experience to visitors. This Monorail system is the only privately owned public transportation system in the country (Las Vegas Sun). However, more than these attractions, Las Vegas is well known for its casinos and liberalised gambling and alcohol policy. The Flamingo Hotel & Casino, built in the 1940s, is one of the oldest casinos in the Las Vegas Strip. Here, the visitors get the opportunity to watch the Wildlife Habitat. Las Vegas casinos offer free liquor to gamblers and liquor stores and bars rarely close in the city (Clifford-cruz 2012). The McCarran Airport is also a major attraction of the city and it offers extensive shopping and dining facilities. Tourism has been a key strategy of the Dubai government to enhance the flow of foreign money to the region for decades. The Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) was set up in 1997 and replaced the Dubai Commerce and Tourism Promotion Board (DCTPB). Historically, Dubai’s charm for global tourists is centred on shopping and other man made attractions (both ancient and modern) instead of entertainment activities like gambling. Dubai follows Islamic laws and traditions and therefore tourism related entertainments like gambling and alcohol have been strictly prohibited in the emirate. Despite these limitations, Dubai strongly competes with other globally popular tourist destinations on the strength of its high cost structures and other eye-catching features. Currently, Dubai is ranked as one of the top ten tourist destinations of the world. According to the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, the number of tourists in Dubai’s hotels increased by 10% from 8.49 million in 2010 to 9.3 million in 2011 (Gulfnews Report, March 7, 2012). In addition, guest nights increased to 32,848,190, an increase of 23% as compared to the previous year. Dubai hotels’ revenues rose by 20% over the period 2010-11 and reached Dh 16 billion (Ibid). In addition, reports indicate that Dubai tourism industry has created tens of thousands of job opportunities over the last few years. Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world (2,716.5 feet tall), is one of the main tourist attractions of the Dubai. This building is mainly used for residency and other commercial purposes although it contains a park with extensive water features (Clifford-cruz 2012). Dubai fountain is illuminated by 6,600 lights and 50 colour projection and it is choreographed to Arabic music (Ibid). The world’s largest shopping mall in terms of total area, the Dubai Mall, is the most important attraction of the Dubai tourism industry. Another major attraction of Dubai tourism sector is Dubai Metro; the longest fully automated metro system in the world. Dubai International Airport is one of the busiest airports in the world with passengers between Europe and Asia. Finally, Dubai’s wildlife sanctuaries are also attracting millions of people every year. Las Vegas tourism industry SWOT analysis Strengths The major strength of Las Vegas’ tourism industry is its enormous bank of visitors. As discussed already, over 39 million people visit this tourist destination a year. Today, Las Vegas tourism sector is largely recognised for its well popular marketing campaign ‘What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’. This advertisement slogan reflects the level of freedom a visitor can enjoy in Las Vegas. Evidently, this unlimited freedom has made the region one of the favourite tourist destinations of millions of people. In addition, casinos and a variety of gambling options contribute to the strengths of this tourism sector. Since gambling is legal in the United States, people can freely participate in such entertainments. Similarly, there is no restriction on the use of liquor in Las Vegas. In short, Las Vegas tourism industry offers its visitors whatever they want. Weaknesses One of the major weaknesses of Las Vegas is that it fails to attract visitors from different demographic sectors. Since this destination is popular for casino gambling and other gaming activities, family tourists are reluctant to visit this place. Due to lack of family tourism packages, the region loses millions in revenue each year. In addition, the region performs very poor in terms of environmental sustainability. Currently, Las Vegas uses huge amounts of water from the Cobalt River each day to meet the different needs of its population and visitors. According to a report, if the climate trend remains to be the same and water usage is not limited, Las Vegas’ largest water source will dry within the next 13 years. Opportunities The growing demand for gambling worldwide is one of the major opportunities for the Las Vegas tourism sector. Market analysts indicate that the gaming industry would double its growth by 2015. In addition, the US federal government considers tourism sector growth as an effective way to fuel the country’s economic recovery process. Therefore, the government has liberalized many legal policies to attract more and more global visitors. Data indicate that the average length of stays in hotels have been significantly increased over the last few years. This emerging trend offers potential opportunities to the Las Vegas’ tourism sector. The increasing investment in R&D is better to develop technologically advanced new gambling games, which in turn would contribute to the future scope of the region’s tourism industry (CBRE 2010). Threats Evidently, the growing environmental issues in the Las Vegas seem to be the greatest threat to its tourism industry because modern people are increasingly concerned about environmental safety and hence they would not support any venture that is likely to hurt environmental sustainability. In addition, continued reduction in credit issuance is also becoming a challenge to Las Vegas’ tourism growth as this issue would adversely affect customer spending. It seems that the gaming industry is growing fast in many other parts of the globe. There, the number of people visiting Las Vegas may decrease over the next years (CBRE 2010). The rising oil price in the international market contributes to airline cost increases which in turn may persuade people to shift toward domestic tourism. Dubai tourism industry SWOT analysis Strengths Reduced violence rate is one of the main strengths of the Dubai tourism sector. Since crime rate is relatively low in Dubai while compared to other highly industrialised nations, global visitors tend to choose Dubai as one of the safest global tourist destinations. This region is rich in natural resources such as oil and natural gas. As a result, Dubai’s tourism industry can offer its clients competitive advantages like cheap transportation. The vibrant culture of Dubai is another notable strength. Involvement of authorities and locals is relatively high in Dubai and therefore visitors are given excellent services. The region’s strong cultural tourism sector plays a notable role in attracting global visitors. The abundance of cheap immigrant workers from Asia and other parts of the globe constitutes another potential strength of Dubai tourism industry. Furthermore, Dubai is rich in high quality air and infrastructure development. Weaknesses Lack of regional collaboration is a major weakness of Dubai tourism sector. Due to this issue, the industry often fails to offer comprehensive service packages to its clients. Lack of beautiful natural landscapes and other sceneries also limit the scope of Dubai tourism industry because many people like to visit natural attractions rather than man-made giant structures. It has been observed that most of the Dubai people cannot speak good English, and this weakness may impede the region’s tourism growth. Opportunities Dubai is one of the seven emirates of UAE and there is a good collaboration between different emirates of UAE. Therefore, people visiting Dubai can easily extend their trip to other emirates too. Since Dubai’s tourism sector particularly focuses on medium class people, more number of people may visit this tourist destination over the years. Threats Evidently, growing competition from other regions that have fewer cultural restrictions appears to be one of the great challenges to Dubai tourism industry. In addition, fast depleting natural resources also reduce the future scope of this region. It is obvious that Arab regions like Dubai are heavily dependent on their oil and natural gas reserves and therefore once these resources run out, these regions’ economic stability may be deadly affected. Relationship between tourism, economy, and environment It is to be noted that there is a strong relationship between a nation’s tourism sector, economy, and environment. It is observed that tourism industry greatly assists a nation to enhance its economic growth. When the number of people visiting the country increases, the government’s tax revenues from hotels, restaurants, and transport also rise proportionately. In addition, tourism is a better way for governments to promote the inflow of foreign money, which in turn can have a positive influence on the nation’s economic stability. As discussed already, tourism industry creates abundant job opportunities in Las Vegas and Dubai. Therefore, tourism sector aids Las Vegas and Dubai governments to improve their unemployment rate, which is a macroeconomic variable affecting a country’s economic growth. When more number of people is employed in a region, this situation would contribute to the region’s GDP growth. In addition, an improved unemployment rate may assist governments to focus more on productive investments and other development projects. Economists suggest that an increased employment rate is the best way to facilitate good wealth distribution among the general public. In short, a better unemployment rate will certainly benefit country/region to improve its overall economic status. Although tourism industry significantly contributes to the economic development of Las Vegas and Dubai, it causes many environmental issues. As compared to Dubai, Las Vegas suffers more potential environmental issues due to its tourism activities. Overuse of water is the major tourism related environmental problem in Las Vegas. In addition, disposable waste dumping (like beer tins and plastic carry bags) by tourists is also a common practice in the city. Despite numerous initiatives taken by the government, environmental pollution still remains to be challenging problem to the Las Vegas’ tourism sector. Similarly, Dubai needs to depend on purified seawater to meet the needs of its tourists and recently the region is struggling with increasing salinity levels in taps and fountains (Alderman 2010). It is clear that tourism industry increases the motor vehicle transport, which is a direct cause of CO2 (greenhouse gas) emissions. Evidently, increased greenhouse gas emissions lead to dreadful environmental issues like ozone layer depletion, global warming, and climate change. If Las Vegas and Dubai governments do not effectively regulate the environmental disturbances attributed to their tourism sector operations, the environmental impacts would overweigh the economic benefits of the tourism industry in the long run. Future scope of tourism in Las Vegas and Dubai While analysing the potential of tourism in Las Vegas and Dubai, it seems that Las Vegas has more capabilities and strengths to develop its tourism industry in future than Dubai. The growing demand for gambling games would contribute to the future scope of the Las Vegas tourism sector. Considering the widespread popularity of casino gambling and other gaming activities in the current days, Dubai may struggle to attract global visitors over the years to come. In addition, Dubai’s regulative alcohol culture may also become a barrier to its tourism growth. According to the Dubai’s alcohol licensing laws, alcohol serving venues must be attached to hotels or private clubs and it is illegal to consume alcohol in the street or public place. In addition, it is illegal to buy liquor from a firm that has no alcohol license. Today, vast majority of the people worldwide consume alcohol regardless of gender or age differences. Although alcohol consumption cannot be allowed under Islamic law, this regulation would not entertain the non-Muslim global visitors, who constitute a significant percent of tourists to Dubai. Since Dubai practices Islamic law, foreign tourists are likely to be penalised if they violate any law of the emirate. Hence this region is likely to lose significance among Western people who are extremely concerned about freedom. In contrast, Las Vegas has a friendly legal environment that permits gambling activities and alcohol consumption. Las Vegas would be the ultimate tourist destination for the young generation who likely to enjoy each moment of their life. The growing popularity of sex marketing in Las Vegas is another factor contributing to the future scope of this region’s tourism industry. Although it is not supported by the government, Las Vegas is currently known for its sex tourism activities too. Undoubtedly, this growing trend can attract a lot of global visitors to Las Vegas in the future. Furthermore, Las Vegas can also obtain a cultural edge over Dubai in terms of tourism growth. It is clear that Western tourists travel abroad more frequently than other people. Since Las Vegas is a Western region, Western people would prefer Las Vegas to Dubai. Conclusion From the above discussion, it is clear that both Las Vegas and Dubai are popular global tourist destinations. While the growth of Las Vegas’ tourism industry is spread over many decades, Dubai’s tourism sector has grown to the current level within the last two decades. Tourism significantly contributes to the economic development of both these regions because this industry enhances the inflow of foreign currency and improves the domestic employment rate. While analysing statistical data, it seems that both Las Vegas and Dubai realised a notable increase in their tourism related revenues over the last few years in spite of the global recessionary pressures. The major attraction of Las Vegas include Stratosphere, fountains at Bellagio, fashion show mall, monorail, Flamingo Hotel & Casino, and McCarran Airport whereas Dubai’s main attractions are Burj Khalifa, Dubai fountain, Dubai mall, metro rail, and Dubai Airport. The SWOT analyses clearly indicate that the Las Vegas tourism sector has more potential strengths and opportunities as compared to the Dubai tourism industry. Increased cultural restrictions make Dubai less favourite global tourist destination as compared to Las Vegas. In contrast to Dubai, Las Vegas permits all types of gambling games at casinos and alcohol consumption. Considering the growing importance of gaming activities and alcohol in the modern life, Dubai tourism sector cannot attract as much tourists as Las Vegas would over the years to come. Furthermore, the growing sex tourism trend in the Las Vegas also contributes to the region’s further growth potential. In short, Las Vegas tourism industry would perform better than Dubai tourism industry in the future. References Alderman, L. (2010) ‘Dubai Faces Environmental Problems After Growth’. New York Times, Oct 27. [online] available at [accessed 28 April 2013]. CBRE. (2010) ‘2011 Las Vegas Strip Forecast & Investment Guide Global Gaming Group’. [online] available at [accessed 28 April 2013]. Clifford-cruz, R. (2012) ‘Las Vegas vs. Dubai: Comparing two world-famous tourist destinations’. Las Vegas Sun, Dec 23. [online] available at [accessed 28 April 2013]. Higgins, C. (2012) ‘Las Vegas gaming revenue and visitation increase in latest October stats’. examiner.com. [online] available at [accessed 28 April 2013]. Gulfnews Report. (March 7, 2012). ‘Dubai’s tourism industry grows 10% to 9.3 million’. [online] available at [accessed 28 April 2013]. Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. Official site. Available at [accessed 28 April 2013]. McCallister, E. (2012) The Shifting of the Las Vegas Tourism Industry: A Historical Perspective on Management and Resort Revenues. UNLV Theses/Dissertations/Professional Papers/Capstones.Paper 1472. [online] available at [accessed 28 April 2013]. Rossi. (2012) ‘The state of Las Vegas tourism’. Las Vegas Review Journal. [online] available at [accessed 28 April 2013]. Read More