On March 15, restaurants, bars, retailers and gaming floors got the green light from state officials to increase capacity to 50% from 35%. In February, the area’s hotels reported 42% occupancy, up from 32% the month before. Whatever their motivations and confidence levels, visitors these days will find Las Vegas behaving more and more like its old self - but masked. (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times) I didn’t think a lot of people would be here. “Because you don’t know how people are going to be. After a 78-day state-mandated closure last spring and summer, then another tightening of restrictions after the virus surged again in fall, almost all of the area’s major hotels and casinos are open to some degree.ĭeciding to visit was “kind of hard, kind of easy,” said Chris Thomas, who came from Tacoma, Wash., with his wife, Tonya. They all seem to be busier now, thanks to a surge of visitors fed by easing state pandemic restrictions, falling COVID-19 infection rates, spring break, the NCAA basketball tournament and a handful of high-profile openings.

Or maybe it’s the spring awakening of the entire Las Vegas economy, a vast and intricate contraption that includes not just hotels, casinos and restaurants but also stilt walkers, fire dancers, corpse exhibitors, street musicians, Carrot Top, freelance showgirls and restaurant servers who double as tax preparers.

LAS VEGAS - That rumble you hear along the Strip might be the sound of returning tourists on the march.

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