Las Vegas visitors, residents say shooting won't deter tourism

LAS VEGAS (KABC) -- Residents and visitors of Las Vegas said that despite the mass shooting, it will not deter tourism in the city.

There were about 22,000 people at the Route 91 Harvest Festival that was along the Las Vegas Strip Sunday, when they were struck by a barrage of gunfire.

Large crowds like that gather in Vegas almost every weekend.

"They have such large venues, such large hotels. But they're going to have to beef up something with security, obviously, have metal detectors in hotels. How is this man possibly able to carry up all those bags for days?" Roseanne Montefusco said.

Montefusco is from Massachusetts and visiting Vegas for the first time. She was in her hotel farther down the strip when the shooting happened.

"It's just very disheartening to see what happened in this beautiful city. But it's not going to deter us from coming back. It is a beautiful place and we've seen some beautiful shows, different sites," she said.

After the shooting, an increased police presence has been on the strip. Some hotels, such as the Wynn, are searching visitors before they enter certain parts of the property. The gaming control board also added additional plain-clothes officers in casinos.

Vegas resident Samantha Thomas said she doesn't think tourism will decrease, but people will be more aware of their surroundings.

"I don't think it will affect it, but I think it will just heighten life and what you should look out for. Just security as a person, just security as a city, just tighten it up," she said. "It's a fantasy land, but it's not fantasy life and we have to really know what's real."

Officials said it may take about a month to see if visitor numbers drop because of the shooting. But they also don't believe that will be the case because of many conventions and other events on the calendar.