La leçon de Las Vegas : le tourisme dans la ville festive / The lesson of Las Vegas : tourism in a festival city

摘要

The paper proposes an analysis of the phenomenal success of Las Vegas, Nevada, an urban tourism destination which attracts more than 33 million tourists a year. After a short presentation of the history of the tourist development of the city since 1931, the paper gives a presentation of the tourist product of Las Vegas. It insists on the consequences of the family entertainment orientation taken by the city in the beginning of the 90s. Although financially unsuccessful, the development of many entertainment attractions and theme environments gave Las Vegas a tremendous tourist development potential which differentiated the city from other gambling destinations, such as Atlantic City. Finally, the paper shows that the phenomenal success of Las Vegas can be understood by a double process : on the one hand. Las Vegas increasingly uses urban references in its themed hotel-casinos. On the other hand, western cities are more and more inspired by the festival atmosphere tourists can enjoy in Las Vegas. In this sense. Las Vegas can be seen not as an urban exception, but as a "prophecy of the city" and of its relationship with tourism. More than a tourist city. Las Vegas can be seen as the archetype of the contemporary "festival city" in which shows, entertainment, and festival atmosphere transcend architecture, planning, design and urban management.