The agency on Wednesday said it is monitoring the situation but would not say whether it expects visitation to decrease in the event of a strike.

Statistics from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority show visitation did not decline overall that year, with about 12.8 million traveling to this desert oasis. As the strike deadline loomed, the agency responsible for promoting the destination responded by working up a $158,000 advertising campaign that included a chef saying “Las Vegas, we’re open and cooking,” and a showgirl saying “Las Vegas, we’re open with a lot to show you.” It would be hard to hire short-term replacement workers locally because unemployment is low in Las Vegas. Operators that have casino-hotels in other states likely have begun sending notices to some workers on those properties to draw them to Las Vegas temporarily, McCall said. However, Fiorenza said major casinos have contingency plans and he expects them to find ways to continue operating if a strike does happen, such as using managers in front-line jobs and bringing in workers from outside the area. Both companies have said they expect to reach agreements with the union. MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment operate more than half the properties that would be affected by a strike. Union officials say workers want to increase wages, protect job security against the increasing use of technology at hotel-casinos, and strengthen language against sexual harassment. Individual casino-operating companies and the union have failed to reach agreements through negotiations that began in February.

Half of those workers cast ballots Tuesday, a majority of whom authorized a strike at any time starting June 1. The contracts of 50,000 members of the Culinary Union who work at 34 different casino-resorts on the Las Vegas Strip and downtown Las Vegas are set to expire at midnight May 31.

They say ‘We are going to visit family in California, and then, we’ll go on a trip to Las Vegas,’” said Michael McCall, a Michigan State University professor of hospitality business. “What happens during the summer in Las Vegas is you get a lot of people who are traveling.

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