Las Vegas is on track to receive upwards of 40 million visitors this year, and its cultural cache only keeps growing. A slew of extremely high profile names in music that not only encapsulate the icon status required for performers to obtain residencies there but are also unusually young have helped the cause. This year alone, Lady Gaga, Cardi B, Drake, Christina Aguilera, Gwen Stefani and Mariah Carey will perform in addition to classic shows put on by the likes of Celine Dion, Janet Jackson and Jennifer Lopez. If there was ever a time to visit Las Vegas as a young person, this is it.
Enter JusCollege, the largest operator of collegiate travel tours in North America. Owned by Verve, the company is responsible for the kind of all-in-one trips that coeds dream of, including classic Spring Break trips to Cabo and Cancun, big game day weekends (think UGA vs. LSU) and musical festivals like Electric Zoo and Bonnaroo. Now a new generation of 18-23 year olds are poised to descend upon Las Vegas for a number of holiday weekends, thanks to JusCollege who chose the city in no small part because of the city's thriving music scene. Over Memorial Day Weekend, students paid $300 for a weekend that included accommodations at the MGM Grand and guaranteed entry to a range of A list performances, including a set by DJ Tiesto and performances by Lil Wayne, Rae Sremmurd, Tyga and 2Chainz.
"We have taken over as the leader in the student travel space and we're introducing new and exciting elements with every program," Verve CMO Orlando Baeza said. "At MDW, we gave our travelers the luxury of choice like never before. We curated programming for the entire weekend for both hip-hop and EDM enthusiasts and gave people the chance to 'choose your own adventure."
"We believe in curating an experience that will become an unforgettable memory in their life," Baeza said. "And we give them the opportunity to talk to us about what they want and we listen. The feedback we take from them will impact which music artists we'll be booking as talent for our Spring Break 2020 programs."
So is Vegas prepared for such an influx? Its history as the ultimate party weekend means it's ripe for hoards of young people to spend their money, and college students who belong to closely connected networks (aka Greek Life) are exactly the kind of demographic whose vacation habits will only beget more trips and more revenue for the city. And as for the students? The opportunity to party like a rockstar and see a new city for the weekend is what American collegiate dreams are made of, these days. It's a match made in heaven.
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