A CEO that runs a group of Las Vegas casinos is telling Canadians that “you’ve got some friends in Las Vegas, and you’re welcome here. If you’re ready to come, we want you to stay here.” And he’s putting his money where his mount is by offering a promotion: Currency exchange at par until August.
The deal is available at Circa Resort and Casino, the D Las Vegas, and Golden Gate Hotel and Casino. That means Canadians don’t have to worry about the exchange rate — a CAD is worth $1 at those places. Today, the Canadian dollar is worth .73 against the $1.
Derek Stevens, CEO of all three hotels, told CTV that although “Las Vegas still doing very well,” he misses Canadian tourists. The program, Stevens says, is to “signify that you’re trying to be hospitable to Canadians when the exchange rate gets a little out of whack, like it is now.”
“I thought it was important for me to reach out and just consciously say: ‘Hey Canada, we miss you, we want you to come back.’“
But he acknowledges it goes beyond the exchange rate, and that he’s playing a very small part in a major political and economic shift.
“I’m not trying to hide from the fact that the Canadian boycott has a significant impact as well,” he said.
Since President Trump was sworn in last year, he used Canada as a sort of whipping boy, leveling insult after insult against its leadership and the people of the country.
Over and over, he’s antagonized Canadians by calling for their country to become the 51st state, claiming it isn’t a real country, and sent ripples through Canada’s economy by levying tariffs against what is arguably the United State’s strongest ally.
Canadians have responded in several ways, including boycotting travel to the United States, costing the tourism industry there upwards of $5.7 billion.
Stevens, who grew up in Detroit just across the border from Canada, told CTV “that the program was a callback to his childhood” when after Detroit Red Wings hockey games, bars, hotels and restaurants in the city would create displays that featured Canadian and American flags with an equal sign between them, which signaled the establishment accepted the Canadian dollar at par.
Give the man credit for trying, because according to Trump and those who work for him, the equal sign should be seen as an abomination. These people don’t think America has an equal and insist the citizens of the world — ally or not — knows it.
But tourism in American is not only down because of economics. The world is watching as masked ICE agents choose to do their job as dehumanizing and violently as possible with seemingly no oversight. The fear that traveling to America right now could led to an arrest and detention for what would normally be considered technicalities is a reality, because it’s happening over and over.
It will be interesting to see if the current climate will negatively affect the number of international players at this year’s World Series of Poker, or if there will be a call to boycott it, like what is currently happening with the World Cup.
This is a story that will certainly be continued.
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