New Normal In Sin City: First Non-Smoking Casino Opening In Las Vegas By MGM Resorts

Park MGM (Instagram/@parkmgm)

JAKARTA - MGM Resorts announced a historic step amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. They will open the first smoke-free casino in Las Vegas.

The MGM Resorts website updated their homepage with an exclamation that read: Let's clear the air: Park MGM is smoke-free.

Park MGM and NoMad Las Vegas are two hotels that were closed since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Both are planned to reopen on September 30.

When it re-opens, Park MGM and NoMad Las Vegas will be the first hotels that are free of smoke and vape in Las Vegas. A smoke free policy is included in the casino section of each hotel. For smokers, both hotels will prepare a smoking room.

People around the Las Vegas Strip - the most glamorous area in Las Vegas - have been talking about this plan. Some welcomed enthusiastically the bold steps shown by MGM Resorts. They considered the decision to become a smoke-free hotel pioneer in Las Vegas in line with the spirit of an eco-friendly resort.

Agree on the courage of MGM Resorts. But local historian and academic at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, David G. Schwartz, saw this move as a big risk. After all, since its inception Las Vegas and its casinos have been synonymous with smoking.

Especially on the gambling floor. He explained, everyone can find ashtrays in various places, people smoking at gambling tables, to employees selling cigars in many corners of the casino.

Even so, this decision was so attractive to his eyes. Schwartz, who has written eleven books on 'Sin City' - nicknamed Las Vegas - said the reforms carried out by MGM Resorts - especially for Park MGM - are a sign of an era shift away from the glamorous world of the Las Vegas Strip.

"While there are many casinos outside of Las Vegas that are smoke-free, this is the first time a Las Vegas resort of this size is smoke-free ... This shows how the position of the casino gambling industry is developing," said Schwartz, quoted by The Hill, Monday, September 28.

Hard year for Las Vegas

2020 is a difficult period for Las Vegas. Since early summer this year, all tourist sites have been closed, including hotels and casinos. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority noted visitor traffic in June 2020 was 70 percent lower than June 2019.

Serious drop. In general, Las Vegas is "closed" in May and July --some before, including Park MGM and NoMad Las Vegas.

Although a number of places have begun to open, it is imperative that the managers of gambling establishments and all other tourist attractions in Las Vegas have a brain to play with. Howard Stutz, a journalist who focuses on Las Vegas business complements Schwartz.

Park MGM (Instagram / @ parkmgm)

Resistance definitely occurs from the smokers group. From a business point of view, however, Stutz sees smoke-free casinos as an attractive move that will benefit in a new era of normality. And the decision to pioneer in Las Vegas will add value to Park MGM and NoMad.

"For Park MGM and NoMad, the time is now because the COVID-19 health and safety guidelines seem right ... So many other gaming markets, especially Maryland, are smoke-free," Stutz wrote in an email.

MGM Resorts' move could even spur other casino companies to follow a similar strategy. Although no other casino company is committed to making resorts permanently smoke-free at this time, many resorts have temporarily banned smoking as the industry continues to struggle to limit the spread of COVID-19.