LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — As more people get vaccinated and COVID-19 cases decrease, you can already see the change in Las Vegas. We are on the road to recovery, but how long could it take?

With properties on the Las Vegas Strip returning to 24/7 operations and capacity limits increasing, those 8 News Now spoke with are confident we will recover by the end of the year. Experts chimed in, saying we are heading in the right directions.

“We are happy, like finally, everything is opening up, so that’s a good thing,” expressed Omar Itani, visiting from California.

Jackie Fryar, visiting from Maryland, said, “Vegas is doing great with opening up the stores. The different scenery again is awesome.”

Applied Analysis principal analyst Jeremy Aguero explains why this is currently the case.

“This is a function of science; it’s not a function of time right now. Right now, the science seems to be more on our side than any point before.”

He says with the vaccine here and hospital capacity down, we are seeing changes in our economy and more jobs added.

“As we get into summer, the expectation is our tourist industry starts to pick up a little bit more,” Aguero noted.

Stephen Miller, professor of economics at UNLV, agrees.

“There is pent-up demand for people to have a good time and take some time off, have a vacation,” he said.

Aguero looks down the road to fall.

“You start looking into the fall, we start to think of the fact that we just had a Golden Knights game that had some fans. That’s going to increase,” he said.

This comes along with Raider games and conventions.

“I think we are going to plateau a little bit, as our economy really seeks to establish a new equilibrium, a new normal,” Aguero shared. “We said before, we thought it was going to be an 18-36-month recovery cycle for Las Vegas. I still believe that’s the case, and we are only a half way through it.”

Although there is excitement to return to normalcy, we still need to be cautious.

“The question is, are we going to go too far too fast? And will the new variants throw us a curve ball?” questioned Miller.

While there is a new-found feeling of energy and positivity right now, the pandemic is not over yet. Expect there to be specific restrictions for several months to come.