As the market falls out in Vegas the Lucky Dragon is up for auction

Will the Luck Dragon Hotel & Casino get lucky and sell in Tuesday’s auction?

LAS VEGAS (INTELLIHUB) — The Lucky Dragon Hotel and Casino went up for auction Tuesday where owners hope to liquidate the failed Asian-themed property.

The City of Las Vegas continues to experience a lack of tourism following the 1 Oct. massacre in which authorities have covered up the fact that a helicopter air assault occurred, as reported by Intellihub.

It’s not yet known if the casino will actually sell at Tuesday’s auction.

Featured Image: James Welch/Flickr

©2018. INTELLIHUB.COM. All Rights Reserved.

The post As the market falls out in Vegas the Lucky Dragon is up for auction appeared first on Intellihub.

Travel To US Has Tumbled 16% Since Trump Took Office, Foursquare Says

Social-media company Foursquare has crunched the data generated by its 50 million active monthly users and determined that America’s share of the international tourism market has fallen sharply since October.

According to data published on the company’s blog, visits by foreigners to the U.S.  started to decline in October, when they fell by 6% year-over-year. The decline has continued through March 2017, the latest month for which Foursquare has data, when visits declined by an astounding 16%.

One quick point of clarification: These data don’t measure the absolute number of visitors to the U.S., but rather America’s “market share” – its popularity as a destination for travelers relative to the rest of the world.

Official data published by the National Travel and Tourism Office also suggest that the number of foreign visitors to the U.S. declined last year from the record highs reached in 2015, but the NTTO has only supplied data through August.

Foursquare categorized each traveler as either “business” or “leisure” depending on the types of locations they visited. By breaking down the totals for each subgroup, Foursquare found that leisure travel has experienced the largest decline, having fallen nearly 20% in March on a year-over-year basis, while business travel during the same period was essentially flat.

The data also suggest that travelers from the Middle East and South America are avoiding the U.S. in larger numbers than are travelers from Europe and Asia, which brings us to the obvious implications of this study: Is the dip in tourism Trump’s fault?

In the post, Foursquare contends that the dollar’s rise against the euro over the past two quarters was probably too small to have such an outsize impact on the tourism figures. Therefore, it’s more likely that Trump’s “heated campaign rhetoric” is the primary reason for the decline in tourism.

But it’s worth remembering that foreign visitors – especially leisure travelers - typically plan their trips several quarters – if not several years – in advance. Therefore, measuring the dollar’s performance over the past two quarters probably isn’t sufficient.

Looking back to the second half of 2014, the ICE Dollar index, which measures the dollar’s strength against a basket of rivals like the euro, increased by nearly 25% after the Federal Reserve revealed that it would soon begin raising interest rates.

In the years that followed the financial crisis, the dollar was relatively cheap compared with its main rivals (i.e. the euro). Now it’s not. So, it should come as no surprise that international visits to the U.S. are falling.

Therapy Dogs, Chocolate, & Play-Doh: Colleges Offer Ways To Cope With Finals

Authord by Jeremy Beaman via TheCollegeFix.com,

Therapy dogs, chocolate, Play-Doh, video games: Today’s college students are offered a variety of ways to cope with the stress of final exams.

At the University of Pennsylvania, for example, several different student groups offered various study breaks, including a Zumba class, a video game stress reliever, and a “Chocolate and Chocolate Labs” event, the Daily Pennsylvanian reports. Student organizers did not respond to The College Fix’s request seeking details.

An annual tradition at the University of Illinois offers students a “Reading Day.” “In place of classes, the university hosts a variety of non-mandatory events aimed at helping students study and de-stress,” the Daily Illini reports.

Penn State’s “De-Stress Fest” included origami folding, Wii gaming, “brain massage music” and more, according to the university’s website.

The University of Michigan offered Play-Doh and more in an event billed as a way to de-stress before final exams, according to its Facebook page. Other relaxers at the event included glitter bottles, Legos and dominoes.

At Temple University, its Student Activities group put together an all-inclusive “camping” event called Camp TU. Students had the chance to participate in de-stressing activities by zip-lining, scaling a rock wall, watching the movie “Anchorman,” or eating from one of seven food trucks, The Tab reports.

Christopher Carey, director of student activities at Temple University, told The College Fix via email that the offerings aided students in several ways.

“It’s a great opportunity for students to enjoy the spring weather and have fun with their friends prior to finals week. The second benefit is that we partner with a class in the School of Sport, Tourism, and Hospitality Management so that those students gain some practical event planning experience,” he said

Carey said Camp TU was a success.

“The event went very well. While we don’t have an exact total, we are estimating around 2,000 students. I can say with certainty that students had a lot of fun. If having fun helped them relieve some stress or unwind a bit, that is great, too,” he said.

Meanwhile, students at Montana State University were invited to the library to de-stress by playing with furry friends provided by Intermountain Therapy Animals, including a group of dogs and a 900-pound donkey named Oliver, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported, added that a survey taken from participating students shows it did relieve stress.

“Students were encouraged to place a marker on a large board to show their level of stress, ranked 1 to 5, before petting the animals. On their way in, students tended to rank themselves a 4 or 5. On the way out, students seemed more at ease, giving themselves a 1 or 2,” the Chronicle notes.

Hope College and St. Cloud University also offered dog de-stress therapy, with St. Cloud noting the event is not just for students, either: “Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) says the dog de-stress event is open to students, faculty and staff,” KVCS news reported.