Institute for Security Studies
2009 Spring Research Award (SRA)

Assessing the Economic Impact of a Terrorist Attack in Las Vegas

In 2007, the Rand Corporation report, “Terrorism Risk Modeling for Intelligence Analysis and Infrastructure Protection,” concluded that Las Vegas was one of the nine U.S. cities most susceptible to a terrorist attack. As acknowledged by the authors, the report did not account for several aspects of our city’s dynamic tourism-based economy. Recent events at the hotels in Mumbai, India, underscore the vulnerability of hotels as “soft targets” of terrorist activity.

In order to enhance our understanding of the potential impact of a terrorist-related attack on Las Vegas, the ISS will sponsor a spring research project that will assess the impact of terrorist activity on the economy of Las Vegas and Nevada.

Research will be conducted by Dr. Keith Schwer and senior researchers at the UNLV Center for Business and Economic Research, Dr. Seyhmus Baloglu of the UNLV College of Hotel Administration and Dr. Nancy E. Brune, Director of Research at the ISS.

The project will be guided by an advisory group that will include representation from the Nevada Commission on Homeland Security and the Southern Nevada Counter-Terrorism Center.