'It has changed the whole idea of being in Vegas': Can Sin City recover after the mass shooting?

So close to the famous Bellagio fountains you can practically feel the spray, there's a memorial to the victims of Sunday's shooting. On the railing there's a Canadian flag, and no shortage of Canadian tourists walking down the Las Vegas strip who stop to sign it.

Among them are Kiley and Caitlin Bradley from Prince Edward Island. In the wake of the shooting, they were on the fence about making the trip.

"She was nervous about coming,"Kileysays, looking at his wife.

Many of their friends cancelled. But the Bradleys got on the plane. Can't let the bad guys win, they say.

"I told her the worst thing that could happen to us down there is that you may not get the Las Vegas story," hesays.

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The "Las Vegas story":a myth built on the promise of escape. A fantasy land where the Jacksons from the Vancouver area had hoped to leave everything behind. To "feel like a kid again."

"Just enjoy yourself with not having to deal with the stresses of outside life," Todd Jackson says.

Now everything seemsdifferent, he says, as though Las Vegas were just another city.

"You can tell the atmosphere here in Vegas has changed and people are a little more reserved," Jackson says. "You see people with tears in their eyes like myself."

As he speaks, a tear rolls down his cheek.

"It has changed the whole idea of being in Vegas," he says,"wondering what's going to happen next, is there going to be anything that happens?"

All over the strip you see reminders of the tragedy. Several electronic billboards outside the strip's hotels normallypromoting hot chefs or upcoming showsnow commemoratethe fallen. The hospitality industry is forced to walk a fine line between respecting the victims and bumming out its customers.

The Sinclairs, who arrived from Muskoka, Ont.,the night of the shooting, are trying to carry on with their holiday as if nothing had happened

"We stayed in our hotel basically for the first day kind of in shock, and then realizeyou know, people have got to move forward, move on," says Jeff Sinclair.

Police presence everywhere

Sinclair suspects this tragedy might prompt other international visitors to pick a different destination. Already in 2017, international tourism in the United Stateshas slid about fourper cent. This latest mass shooting, Sinclair says, may not help.

"There's a big problem with guns in the States, as far as my wife and I are concerned," Sinclair says.

There are now police everywhere along the strip, often posing for selfies, doing their best to seem like just another Vegas attraction. But paradoxically their presencemakes some visitors like Saskatchewan's Ben Babey even more nervous.

He, along with a buddy and their wives, have parked their scooters on the strip not far from the memorial. Nearby, a group of six police officers stand talking in a circle.

"The police that you see here, you've got to wonder what the heck," Babey says."That's a lot of cops just to try to keep you safe."

And their presence, he says, has changed the vibe in Sin City.

"With this happening, now I'm seeing less and less smiles and having a good time," Babey says. "They're more serious, trying to figure out whether or not you're a nut."

This ostentatious police presence is temporary; by the end of the week there are now fewer units posted outside the Vegas hotels than there were in the days immediately after the shooting. Babey'sfriend Chris Clarke says beefing up policingisn't as important as making more permanent changes, likeimproving security and screening inside thehotels.

"They have to do something in order to make it feel safe for everybody to come," says Clarke. "It's going to be an extra added expense. And unfortunately everybody's going to be paying for it in the long run."

Installing high-tech monitoring systems

Even before Sunday'sattack, some Las Vegas hotels hadbegun installing high-tech monitoring systems with the aim ofpreventing this kind of mass violence. At the WestgateLas Vegas Resort &Casino, a Canadian company is installing a radar-based weapon detection system that guests can't see.

"There isn't a single silver bullet," saysMartin Cronin, CEO of Burlington, Ont.,-based Patriot One Technologies."What security managers in Las Vegas will be looking at is how they can supplement existing security measuresnot making people live in a fortress or an open prison. We have to try to balance the ability of people to go about their lives with improved measures of security."

For the Jacksons, Las Vegas will never be the same. But that doesn't mean they won't be back.

"As Canadians, we want to make sure we're showing that Vegas is still a great place to come, and we have to take care of our partners, our American friends," says Todd Jackson, who lives a seven minutes' drive from the border. "This is a way of us giving back and saying we are always going to remember what went on, and we're here for you."

The best way to show their support, he says, is through "retail therapy."

They leave the memorial and walk hand-in-hand towards the nearby shopping gallery. The show, they say, must go on. Their views are distilled by a tourist from London, Ont.,whoscrawled on a memorial placard in white marker "Viva Las Vegas."Elvis's hit of the same name plays over the Bellagio's loudspeakers as the fountains splash and dance.