Mandalay Bay, Mirage Latest Las Vegas Hotels to Close Midweek, as Airport Travel Remains Sluggish
Posted on: November 20, 2020, 01:37h.
Last updated on: November 21, 2020, 03:25h.
In response to low demand, the Mirage and Mandalay Bay are the latest Las Vegas hotels set to close during the middle of the week. This comes as the slowdown continues at McCarran International Airport during the coronavirus pandemic.
With a decline in tourism traffic, the hotel towers at the Mirage and Mandalay Bay on the Las Vegas Strip are closing during the slow midweek days.
Beginning Nov. 30, the hotels at the Mirage and Mandalay Bay will close Mondays at noon and reopen Thursdays at noon, according to a statement from MGM Resorts. The hotels will be closed on Tuesdays and Wednesday.
The casino portions at the Mirage and Mandalay Bay, and as well as restaurants and other amenities, will remain open. Both resorts are expected to reopen on a regular schedule after December.
While we do not currently expect the midweek hotel closures to remain past December, we will continue evaluating business levels to determine how long they are in effect,” MGM Resorts said in a statement.
Another MGM Resorts property on the Strip, Park MGM, also is only accepting hotels guests on weekends.
The LINQ and Planet Hollywood, two Caesars Entertainment properties on the Strip, are opening rooms for reservations only on weekends.
The off-Strip Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino has been closed since the March state-mandated COVID-19 shutdown. It is one of the last to reopen after Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) allowed casinos to begin operating again June 4.
The Rio is reopening on Dec. 22. After the first of the year, it will only accept weekend hotel reservations.
Encore, a Wynn Resorts hotel-casino on the Strip, has closed its casino and hotel on Tuesdays and Wednesdays because of low consumer demand.
These midweek woes can be attributed in part to the falloff in convention business since the pandemic began, industry experts said. Conventions and other big events are seen as helpful in filling up hotel rooms during the middle of the week.
The weekday occupancy rate in Las Vegas during September was 38.5 percent, compared to a weekend rate of 66.1 percent, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
Airport Slowdown
In October 2020, 1.98 million travelers used McCarran International Airport, according to totals released this week by the Clark County Department of Aviation. This is a decline of 57 percent compared to the same month last year.
In October 2019, 4.6 million passengers made their way through the airport. This means 2.6 million fewer travelers used the airport this October than in the previous October.
However, the October 2020 number is higher than the 1.7 million passengers who used the airport one month earlier.
TSA Coronavirus Surge
In addition to the drop in the number airline passengers, McCarran International Airport is faced with a surge in the number of Transportation Security Administration officers who have tested positive for COVID-19.
Since Oct. 22, the number of reported cases at the airport has reached 24, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
In total, 65 TSA employees have tested positive for COVID-19 at the Las Vegas airport since the March onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
Nationwide, nearly 800 TSA employees have tested positive for COVID-19. The airport with the largest number is Miami International Airport, at 157.
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Last Comments ( 2 )
Dear Fred, Wow, you have a lot of hyperbole in your comment. Blaming others for KILLING people with the virus is not only rude, it’s untrue. People going about their business are not weapons. Stop blaming others. If you feel you are at risk, do what humans have always done. STAY HOME! Some of us have already had the virus and gotten over it. We are not spreading the virus. We aren’t getting reinfected. Only four people in the world have gotten the virus twice. Each had specific underlying conditions and each SURVIVED the virus twice. The CDC has a comorbidity report that shows only SIX percent of the number of deaths you hear about on the evening news actually died BECAUSE of the virus. The rest died of other causes and also had the virus. BIG difference. So have some respect for those who aren’t wearing a mask. They’re everyday people, not assassins. You don’t know their circumstances. If you are afraid for yourself, stay home. While the virus has a 99.97% survival rate, maybe you’re that special one who beats the odds in Vegas and taps out. Not bloody likely, though.
While Mayor Goodman and many locals complain about the Governor's '3-week Pause Order' and the 25% capacity restrictions, the poor housekeeping workers, servers, and all underpaid but crucial support staff, to include airport TSA and security personnel are putting their very lives and the lives of their family members at risk in order to make it look like we are in normal times. WE ARE NOT! Our first responders, police, emt's, nurses, aids, and physicians (and their families) are at risk EVERYDAY while selfishness prevails. Look at the hodge-podge of masked and unmasked people walking around and co-mingling together clearly delineates responsible from irresponsible people. We all are tired and weary of the pandemic, but are you willing to die or kill someone elses grandmother for your own selfish pleasures under the guise of exercising your freedom? You have the 'freedom' to kill yourself...not others. Everyone (especially that crazy freaking mayor) need to PAUSE until widespread vaccinations are administered. Stay your asses at home through this holiday period so that others may live! If you like...all of you meet at the Mayor's house and have a COVID party for the ages. With an old sick husband at home, I bet she's not having that. I'd like to say Vegas--You're better than that..but I know better--You're NOT. Kudo's to Gov. Sisolak for standing when no one else will!