While gay couples still can't get married in the marriage capital of the world, Las Vegas wants to let them know they — and their money — are more than welcome to the buffet of other activities Sin City has to offer. The city's tourism authority recently launched its first mainstream TV campaign aimed at the LGBT community: a commercial featuring a hunk and a heavy dose of innuendo. The first gay nightclub inside a Las Vegas Strip casino opened up this summer.
The efforts have landed the city among the top destinations for gay travelers, who LGBT tourism experts say are more likely to be childless, take more trips and tend to have more disposable income than the average visitor. But some business leaders fear that Nevada's same-sex marriage ban is preventing Las Vegas from reaching its true potential among the demographic. "We have reached a point in the state of Nevada where our current laws governing gay and lesbian marriage have made our most vital industry, tourism, uncompetitive," said Michael Weaver, senior vice president of marketing for Wynn Resorts.
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