By Eileen Falkenberg-Hull
Senior Editor, Autos, Travel and Lifestyle
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Las Vegas is navigating a challenging economic landscape. Sustaining and growing the city’s appeal means more than adding new attractions—it means investing in change Carlos Castro, president and CFO of Resorts World, told the gathered audience at Newsweek’s New Destinations World Summit this week.
“2025 was a challenging year, [especially] over the summer,” Castro said on stage. He noted that price-conscious customers were shopping for their Vegas vacation during that time and political friction with Canada put off Canadian travelers from choosing the city as their destination.
As CFO, he understands the economics on both sides of the equation.
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“When we all travel, we want to get value for our dollar. I think Las Vegas—[we] got a little ahead of ourselves in terms of not really providing that value… We need to make money. We need to be profitable. These buildings don't pay for themselves; they're very expensive,” he said.
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“So yes, we do have to try to get revenue wherever we can get it. [But] I think we have to be mindful of the value proposition that we're providing, whether that's coming through a room raise, beverage offerings, room service offerings or mini bar offerings.”
The evolution worked. Business picked up this summer. “It was still challenging,” Castro said, refusing to sugar coat the situation.
"Las Vegas is in a constant state of invention and reinvention. It's a city that has defined the customer travel experience and inspired new levels of hospitality around the world. That is a large part of the reason Newsweek chose the city as the host of our New Destinations conference," Amit Shah, Newsweek executive vice president said.
Castro doesn’t just want Resorts World to evolve. He was emphatic that the City of Las Vegas needs to do the same.
“I believe that Las Vegas has to take a step back and get back to our core, making sure that our customers and our visitors feel safe in the city. [That means] supporting our men and women in law enforcement,” he said.
The president and CFO went further saying, “I think Las Vegas needs to reevaluate the service proposition. We need to make sure that we're serving our guests, that we're providing great service. [Also,] the properties on the Strip need to be making sure that they're reinvesting in their asset… I think collectively as Las Vegas, we need to step up and say we're going to make this the safest city in the world. We're going to provide the best service in the world, and we're going to have the best assets in the world, and I think innovation will come. I think people will come and make an investment.”
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