It’s a tale of two Southern Nevada cities and a river runs through them.

Both have encountered struggles attracting tourists over the years for different reasons and both have the common bond of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority performing their tourism marketing plans as somewhat of a big brother.

Both suffered through 9-11, the Great Recession and the COVID years. Both saw major hotel casinos boarded up and closed and both rely on occasionally fickle markets. Both have daytime temperatures generally hotter than Las Vegas.