LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Tuesday marked the beginning of the Lunar New Year and 2019 is the Year of the Pig!
Unlike other holidays, this celebration lasts for 15 days and right now its not just locals who are celebrating. Thousands of visitors are also in town. Because of this, Lunar New Year brings good luck to a lot of local businesses.
When you see dragon and lion dancers all over the valley , you know it's the beginning of another year in the lunar calendar.
its marked by ceremonies and traditions believed to attract good luck and prosperity in the coming year.
For business owners like Henda Chow owner of Harbor Palace Seafood Restaurant in Chinatown the holiday automatically means good profits.
"We usually serve special dishes, usually we don't sell those dishes on a regular day, only on new years."
Thousands of tourists from the US and Asian countries flock to his restaurant during the 15 day holiday marathon.
Chow says, "I think (I see) an increase of 50% in revenue."
The owners of NV Starr Tours are getting non-stop calls about their lunar new year packages from Chinese and Vietnamese tourists.
Paul Rosenthal says, "We're expecting to have upwards of 20 thousand people through the doors this weekend alone."
As tourism spikes, more money is pumped into our local economy.
That's because visitors ringing in the Lunar New Year aren't afraid to shell out big bucks.
Anna Jacobs' NV Starr Tours say, "They eat good. they want to see the best show in town. they want to ride the helicopter. the most expensive helicopter to grand canyon. they love to spend."
Chow adds, "It's not only helping business, actually culture wise we could learn more stuff you know."
According to the Asian Chamber of Commerce, part of the reason why Lunar New Year continues to grow and bring more money into the valley is the growing Asian -American population. In fact. so far we have 21,000 Asian-owned businesses in the valley right now. That's up by 2,000 from last year.
