Las Vegas’ “The Strip”
The Las Vegas Strip is the stretch of South Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. Also known as “The Strip,” it is the stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard roughly between Russell Road (near the welcome to Las Vegas sign) and Sahara Avenue (just past Circus Circus), and is approximately 4.2 miles in length. It is located south of the Las Vegas city limits in the unincorporated towns of Paradise and Winchester; however, it is generally referred to simply as “Las Vegas.”
Home to breathtaking architecture and many of the world’s largest and grandest hotels, casinos, resorts, restaurants, and entertainment attractions, the Las Vegas Strip has been established as not only one of the most popular and iconic tourist destinations in the world, but also as one of the driving forces of Las Vegas’ economy.
Named by Los Angeles police officer and businessman Guy McAfee after his hometown’s Sunset Strip, the first casino-resort on what would one day be called the Las Vegas Strip was the El Rancho Vegas, which opened with 63 rooms on April 3, 1941.
Its immediate success inspired the opening of a second hotel on the future Strip – Hotel Last Frontier, which opened in 1942 – and other notable resorts, hotels and casinos started springing up in the area, including the Flamingo in 1946, the Desert Inn in 1950, and Caesars Palace in 1966.
Over time, the hotels and resorts on The Strip grew larger and more grandiose; opening in 1969, the International Hotel, with 1,512 rooms, began the era of mega-resorts; it was followed by the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in 1973, one of the largest hotels in the world at the time with 2,084 rooms.
The opening of The Mirage in 1989 set a new level to the Las Vegas experience; some of the key features of The Mirage included tropical landscapes with waterfalls, an erupting volcano, restaurants with world-class chefs, and a show with famed illusionists Siegfried & Roy. And in the 1990s, more than 12 new hotels opened, including themed hotels like the Luxor, Excalibur, Mandalay Bay, and The Bellagio.
With the opening of resorts such as Bellagio, Venetian, Palazzo, Wynn and Encore, The Strip trended towards the luxurious high end segment through most of the 2000s; high end dining, specialty retail, spas and nightclubs became as prominent of tourist attractions as the street’s many gambling casinos and resorts. Around this time, expensive residential condo units also began appearing on The Strip. However, gambling remains the main draw of the Las Vegas Strip, and the biggest casinos located there reported more than $6 billion in annual gaming revenues in 2019 alone, a year when over 42 million people visited the city of Las Vegas.
In addition to the large hotels, casinos and resorts, the Las Vegas Strip is home to many attractions, such as M&M’s World, Adventuredome, and the Fashion Show Mall. Starting in the mid-1990s, the Strip became a popular New Year’s Eve celebration destination. The Strip is also well known for its lounges, showrooms, theaters and nightclubs, as well as the many notable artists that have performed there over the years.
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