« What happens here, stays here » : origines, cristallisation et recomposition des imaginaires touristiques de Las Vegas

Abstract

Las Vegas (Nevada, USA) is a world-renowned tourist destination, attracting 42.5 million visitors in 2019, and self-proclaimed “Entertainment Capital of the World”. This paper links Las Vegas popularity with its tourism imaginaries’ strength. Coined within tourism studies, the notion of tourism imaginaries is here defined following works on spatial imaginaries and cultural geography. I focus on the different stakeholders shaping those imaginaries, both producers—local officials and casino operators—and receivers—tourists and the American public in general. More specifically, I study publicity campaigns and their evolution through time—including the famous and eponymous “What happens here”—to understand Las Vegas tourism imaginaries’ genesis and crystallization. The limited success of recent attempts of their renewal is then highlighted and explained by their inertia within the American psyche.

Keywords

• tourism imaginaries
• spatial imaginaries
• Las Vegas
• publicity campaigns
• American public opinion