Las Vegas Strip

The Strip is a long road in Nevada.

It is near the city of Las Vegas. Many big hotels are there. These hotels have many rooms.

Some hotels are very large. They are called mega-resorts. People visit to see the lights.

You can ride a bus there. Some buses have two floors. This helps people see the sights.

It is a very famous place to visit.

The Las Vegas Strip is a famous road in Nevada.

It sits in Clark County, just south of the city of Las Vegas. The Strip is a long stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard. Many people call it "the Strip." It is known for its many resort hotels and casinos.

Some of these hotels are very large. We call these mega-resorts. The Bellagio is one such hotel. It cost $1.7 billion to build.

In the early years, the Strip was much smaller. The first full resort was the El Rancho Vegas. It opened in 1941. Later, big hotels like the Flamingo changed the area. Today, the Strip has many things to see. There are shows, malls, and even a giant Ferris wheel.

Many people walk along the Strip. About 50,000 people walk there on an average day. You can also travel by bus or a monorail train. Taxis are easy to find too.

The Strip is a very busy and bright place.

The Las Vegas Strip is a famous stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard. It sits in Clark County, Nevada, just south of the Las Vegas city limits.

The area is part of the unincorporated towns of Paradise and Winchester. Many people just call the whole place "Las Vegas." It is known for having many huge resort hotels and casinos.

These large buildings make the Strip a very popular place for tourists. The area is also a major part of the local economy. Most of the road is even named an All-American Road.

Visitors have many ways to move around this busy area. You can ride on double-decker buses called The Deuce.

There are also free trams that run between some hotels. A monorail train runs along the east side of the Strip. It has stops at places like the MGM Grand and the Sahara.

Because there are so many people, there are also many footbridges. These bridges help people cross the big streets safely.

On an average day, about 50,000 people walk along the Strip. Taxis are also easy to find at many resorts and malls.

In the early days, the Strip looked very different. The first casino was the Pair-o-Dice Club in 1931.

The first full resort was the El Rancho Vegas, which opened in 1941. Later, the Flamingo opened in 1946 and 1947.

A businessman named Guy McAfee gave the area its name. He named it after the Sunset Strip in Hollywood. The famous "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign was built in 1959. This sign sits just outside the old city limits. It is a very famous landmark for people visiting the area.

Over time, the hotels became much larger. These are often called mega-resorts.

Kirk Kerkorian helped start this era by building very big hotels. He opened the International Hotel in 1969 with 1,512 rooms.

He also built the first MGM Grand in 1973. In 1989, The Mirage opened and changed how the resorts looked.

Later, The Bellagio was built in the 1990s. It cost $1.7 billion to build. This was the most expensive hotel in the world at that time.

Today, the Strip is full of many different things to do. You can visit the Luxor, Excalibur, or Mandalay Bay.

There are also big shopping areas like the Fashion Show Mall.

Some people visit to see shows like Mystère by Cirque du Soleil. Others enjoy the High Roller Ferris wheel or the Sphere.

Many visitors also enjoy gambling at the many casinos. In 2019, about 81% of visitors said they gambled while they were there. The Strip continues to change with new buildings and projects every year.

The Las Vegas Strip is a world-famous stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard.

It is located in Clark County, Nevada. The area sits just south of the Las Vegas city limits. It is part of the unincorporated towns of Paradise and Winchester. Most people simply call this area "Las Vegas." The Strip is known for its high concentration of resort hotels and casinos. It is a major driving force for the local economy. Many of the largest hotel-casino properties on Earth are found here.

The boundaries of the Strip can be defined in different ways. In a strict sense, it is the stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard between Sahara Avenue and the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign. Clark County uses the term "Resort Corridor" to describe a larger area. This includes the boulevard between the 215 Beltway and Sahara Avenue. The Sahara is considered the northern terminus by the county. However, many travel guides extend the Strip north to the Strat. At the southern end, Mandalay Bay is considered the southernmost resort.

The history of the Strip began with small establishments. The Pair-o-Dice Club opened in 1931 as the first casino on Highway 91. The El Rancho Vegas opened on April 3, 1941, as the first full-service resort. It featured 63 bungalow hotel rooms. The success of this resort led to the opening of the Hotel Last Frontier in 1942.

In 1946, organized crime figure Bugsy Siegel funded the Flamingo. The Flamingo casino opened in December 1946, and its hotel opened in March 1947. The name "Strip" was given by Guy McAfee. He named it after the Sunset Strip in Hollywood.

A major shift occurred with the rise of mega-resorts. This era was driven by developers like Kirk Kerkorian. He established Caesars Palace in 1966. In 1969, he opened the International Hotel, which had 1,512 rooms. This hotel is known today as Westgate Las Vegas. Kerkorian also opened the first MGM Grand in 1973 with 2,084 rooms. This resort suffered a tragic fire on November 21, 1980. Electrical problems caused the fire, which killed 87 people. The hotel reopened eight months later.

The 1980s and 1990s brought even larger developments. The Mirage opened in 1989 and set a new standard for the area. This led to the creation of many themed hotels. Examples include the Luxor, Excalibur, and Mandalay Bay. During the 1990s, The Bellagio was constructed. It cost $1.7 billion, making it the most expensive hotel in the world at that time. Entertainment also changed during this period. In 1993, the Mystère show by Cirque du Soleil debuted at Treasure Island.

Modern developments have focused on luxury and diverse attractions. The CityCenter project was a massive $8.5 billion multi-use development. It was built between 2006 and 2009 on the former Boardwalk hotel site. In recent years, new landmarks have appeared. The Sphere opened in September 2023. The Fontainebleau Las Vegas also opened in December 2023. The Strip continues to evolve with new projects like the upcoming New Las Vegas Stadium. This stadium is set to host the Athletics baseball team in 2028.

Moving around the Strip requires various transportation methods. Tens of thousands of people walk the area daily. In 2019, about 50,000 pedestrians walked the Strip on an average day. To keep people safe, many elevated pedestrian footbridges were built.

These bridges connect major resorts and shopping centers. Visitors can also use RTC Transit buses, such as the double-decker "Deuce." A monorail runs along the east side of the corridor. It has stations at several properties, including the MGM Grand and the Sahara.

Gambling remains a central part of the Strip experience. In 2019, about 81% of visitors reported gambling while in Las Vegas. Most of these visitors, about 89%, gambled specifically on the Strip. Large casinos with over $72 million in annual gaming revenue generate significant wealth. In 2019, these "Big Las Vegas Strip Casinos" earned more than $6 billion annually. This represents about 26% of total annual revenues. The types of games played have also shifted over time. For example, the number of Blackjack tables dropped from 77% in 1985 to 50% in 2019. Meanwhile, Baccarat grew to represent 37% of revenue by 2019.