LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Clark County is cashing in after the much-anticipated Formula One race on the Las Vegas Strip, with an estimated economic impact of $1.28 billion, but not everyone is getting a piece of the profits.
“You’re a little bit disappointed because you think an event like this coming to Las Vegas, which is amazing and great, you know would give a little bit of piece of business to everybody, but people stayed away, and it didn’t happen for us,” said Jessica Maass, marketing manager at Hofbrauhaus Las Vegas restaurant.
She said Hofbrauhaus Las Vegas relies on tourists for 80% of their business, and they were prepared for a packed dining room during F1.
“Since we didn’t know what’s going to happen, we did make sure that we’re fully staffed in the kitchen in front of the house to make sure that we can serve the guests that are coming in to have lunch or dinner. We also brought down extra TVs so we could show the practice we could show the race, but unfortunatel, we didn’t need them,” said Maass. “We could’ve easily served 600 to 800 guests. We were prepared to have that kind of business, and it just didn’t happen.”
All of the preparation for the race weekend lead to disappointing turnouts for some businesses near the F1 track.
Jimmy Singh, the manager of Las Vegas Souvenirs and Gifts on Koval and Flamingo, estimates that they lost at least 90% of their business during F1 week. “Last week was very slow, totally dead. I didn’t get like maybe 10 or 15 people, that’s it,” he said.
Now, as the construction cleanup process on the Strip is underway, and so is the busy holiday tourist season, both businesses hope this is their chance to bounce back from what they say was a not-so-profitable Las Vegas Grand Prix.
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