People lined up for sold-out Cirque du Soleil shows, slot machines whirled nonstop, and crowds crammed onto the pedestrian bridges connecting the megahotels and casinos. Las Vegas, which had been dead for about a year, was roaring back with its busiest week since the pandemic started.
The scent of cigarettes permeated rooms (smoking is legal indoors). The event’s delay from May to October meant scorching summer weather was replaced by cool fall air.Ĭasino floors and buffets were flooded with tourists and business travelers. The usually 30-minute drive from the Strip to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where the concert is held, took 90 minutes or more, according to local Uber drivers.
The revelry has previously drawn 150,000 people, and hotel room rates soared over the weekend. The same day that the weed conference ended, the Electric Daisy Carnival electronic music festival returned after more than two years. Las Vegas Raiders fans pose ahead of a game at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas in September. “The exhibitors and attendees that I’ve interviewed here are thrilled to be back, face to face, developing relationships.”
It feels like any other show any other year,” said Danica Tormohlen, editor at large at the Society of Independent Show Organizers, a convention industry group. “In terms of exhibitors and attendance, this is the first show that truly feels back to normal, besides the fact that people are wearing masks. “The entire pandemic has been the worst crisis it’s seen,” worse than 1980s fires at the MGM Grand and Hilton, worse than previous recessions and the 9/11 terrorist attacks, said David Schwartz, a gaming historian and University of Nevada, Las Vegas professor.Īt MJBizCon, people were ready to socialize. It’s also a major boost as the city stumbles back from economic devastation. If not for the pandemic, it would have set a new attendance record, said MJBiz CEO Chris Walsh.
19 to 22 - more than 85% of 2019’s 31,523 attendees - and more than 1,200 exhibitors. sales, so has the MJBizCon cannabis conference, the largest convention held in Las Vegas during the pandemic to date, with 27,000 attendees from Oct. As the business of pot has boomed to an estimated $92 billion in U.S.
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