is las vegas tourism down

Inflation impacting recent Las Vegas tourism numbers and spending, UNLV researchers say

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - Millions of Americans have been tightening their wallets due to inflation, and Las Vegas researchers now have proof to show how it has affected tourism and visitor spending.

UNLV’s Center for Business and Economic Research released its Economic Outlook study for 2022 through 2024 and notes that the Las Vegas economy started to stall in June of this year.

Researchers utilize a metric called Clark County Tourism Index, measuring visitors, Clark County gross gaming revenue, the Las Vegas hotel/motel occupancy rate, and total passengers at Harry Reid International Airport. After a post-lockdown surge and recovery, Las Vegas has seen several months of decline.

“Interest rates have gone up. And we know that we know that prices are going up as well. And that’s what the Fed is trying to get their hands around and solve. So it may be that the Fed’s policies is having an effect not only nationally, but it’s also affecting our economy locally,” said Professor Stephen Miller, one of the authors of the study.

“Visitors: maybe you’re thinking about coming here. Maybe you’ve changed your mind,” Miller said.

Though Harry Reid International Airport reported banner visitor numbers of over 5 million people for October alone, the report takes into account what’s called seasonally adjusted numbers, which analyze travel trends without holiday spikes. Adjusted numbers reflect several months of decreasing visitors, Miller said.

An anomaly to the trend, defying economic logic? Gaming gains. The Nevada Gaming Control Board has reported 20 straight months of $1 billion of revenue. The surge of sporting events and sports betting may be a contributing factor, Miller said.

The report notes, in the event of a recession hitting the U.S. and Las Vegas in 2023, major events such as Formula One and the Super Bowl will be helpful to inject a surge of visitors during normally slower tourism months.

Holiday spending could reverse the downward trajectory, Miller said. Other unknown factors that could impact tourism in 2023 and beyond include the effects of the nation’s current flu and RSV surge, this winter, as well as another possible COVID-19 surge.

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38.8 million people visited Las Vegas in 2022, inching closer to pre-pandemic levels

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The numbers are in, and they show we are inching back to pre-pandemic tourism levels in Las Vegas.

According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, 38.8 million people visited Las Vegas in 2022. That's a few million people short of pre-pandemic numbers — but 21% up from 2021's visitors.

There are a few reasons why, says Jeremy Aguero, principal financial analyst at Applied Analysis.

"One is going to be convention-related travel is still taking a little time to come back. We knew that was going to be a little sluggish," Aguero said. "The other part is international travel is taking a little time."

(2/3) Part of that gap is from convention visitors. There were 5 million in 2022, which was up significantly YOY, but still about 1.6 million short of 2019's total. — Bryan Horwath (@bryanhorwath) February 1, 2023

In 2022, Las Vegas hosted the NFL Pro Bowl, the NFL Draft, and other major events that Aguero says are helping to boost our economy.

"Prior to COVID-19, we saw that things like sports and entertainment were the seventh-highest in motivation for somebody to get in a car or get on a plane and come to Las Vegas," Aguero said. "Today, that number is two — it is the second-most noted motivation for someone coming."

Convention numbers are also up from 2021, with 5 million people traveling to Las Vegas for conventions in 2022. But they're still short 1.6 million from pre-pandemic levels.

"What this reflects to us is we still have room for continued growth," Aguero said.

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There's a new sense of 'hopeful' optimism among visitors to the Las Vegas Strip

LAS VEGAS — On a recent Friday night along Fremont Street, thousands of tourists clutching drinks packed under the bright lights of the canopy . 

Many were on the way to card tables, slots and restaurants, while hundreds more waited shoulder-to-shoulder at a Las Vegas Boulevard crosswalk to join the party. 

Some were there to gamble. Others were there to dance.

These are signs of change in a vacation capital that was devastated by COVID-19 . As people break out of isolation with shots in their arms and visit here to write new chapters in their lives, Las Vegas tourism is bouncing back to pre-pandemic levels.

'Girls trip'

Standing by a slot machine inside the Bellagio casino, Sharon Grooms, 64, is waiting for her daughters to show up.

A native of Bowling Green, Kentucky, Grooms got her Pfizer shots in January. This Vegas trip seemed like a rite of passage after a long, frustrating quarantine. 

"The first airplane ride in a whole year," Grooms said. "Had to wear a mask four hours."

Next to Grooms sat a friend who lost her husband to COVID-19 last year. Still navigating her grief, she boarded the plane with her friends and bopped the slot machine buttons to take her mind off things.

"We came out for a girls trip," Grooms said. "That's what he would have wanted." 

The vaccine emboldened the women to venture far from home and let loose.

But others without shots in their arms did just the same.

'I'm not paranoid'

Standing near a roulette table with a can of Bud Light Seltzer, Daniel Erskine watched a couple of friends – his "homeboys" – play.

The 37-year-old Denver IT guy came to Las Vegas months ago –– "in the heart of it," he said – and noticed how cautious casinos and visitors had become.

Staying at the Bellagio this time, he sensed a shift. People are more relaxed in their behavior. Fewer masks cover faces on The Strip. Way more people are visiting.

And he's right. A walk down Las Vegas Boulevard confirms his observations.

"It's not as in your face," he said. "The paranoia feels like it's going away." 

Despite the world hitting  150 million coronavirus cases  and the U.S. reporting  575,000 deaths , the pandemic is in the rear-view mirror for many. 

Erskine did not get the vaccine. He's still undecided whether he'll get it.

"I'm not paranoid," he said.

Economic reports show Las Vegas rebound

New economic reports are showing increases in airport passengers and tourism – and a big jump in a key index showing that casinos statewide took in $1 billion in winnings last month for the first time since February 2020.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority tallied more than 2.2 million visitors in March – down 40% compared to the same month two years ago.

But that figure was up from the 1.5 million tourists who came to Las Vegas in the first half of March 2020, before casinos and other businesses were closed to prevent people from gathering and spreading COVID-19.

McCarran International Airport handled nearly 2.6 million passengers last month – up 961,000 from about 1.6 million arriving and departing passengers in February. In the same month last year, the airport counted 4.4 million passengers on the way to a record-setting 51.5 million travelers in 2019.

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak loosened occupancy limits statewide from 35% to 50% on March 15 and plans to leave mitigation measures to local jurisdictions on May 1.

Meanwhile, more and more Americans are getting shots in their arms .

One hundred million Americans have received their second of two shots or a one-shot vaccine, and 220 million Americans have received at least one dose to protect against COVID-19, White House officials said Friday.

"That's 100 million Americans with a sense of relief and peace of mind, knowing that after a long and hard year, they're protected from the virus," White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said.

At the Fountains of Bellagio, Derek Davis held up his cellphone to snap a photo of his nephew and mother watching the water show. 

The 37-year-old drove two hours to Las Vegas from Hurricane, Utah, to pick up his family at the airport. They decided to visit The Strip before heading home.

Looking around at the tourists growing in numbers by the hour, Davis had one word to describe his feelings lately.

"Hopeful," he said.

Contributing: USA TODAY, Associated Press.

Ed Komenda writes about Las Vegas for the Reno Gazette Journal and USA Today Network. 

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When will Las Vegas tourism rebound from COVID? First, we need access to vaccines, international travel

LAS VEGAS – Not long ago, Nevada's tourism industry had no ceiling.

More people traveled here every year. Hotel-casinos transformed to give the people what they wanted, what they never knew they wanted – and a reason to return.

At the center of this philosophy? Giving vacationers experiences they value. But in the age of COVID-19, what they value has changed in a deep and profound way.

It's no longer about finding a place where you can let your hair down , leave the tie in the hotel room and be who you always wanted to be for a weekend . It's about finding a place that's clean and secluded and far from the perils of the pandemic .

As Nevada enters the new year, the dilemma that pressed pause on the state's economic engine appears to be one that no tourism slogan can solve.

What will it take for hotel-casinos to rebound and get people traveling again? We asked several industry insiders to find out.

No magic switch to flip tourism on

Howard Stutz has been around the Nevada gaming industry for three decades. The executive editor of CDC Gaming Reports, he spent years as a local newspaper reporter in Las Vegas, where he covered the Great Recession.

The catastrophic implications of the COVID-19 pandemic are far worse, he said.

"The switch is not going to be flipped right away," Stutz told the USA TODAY Network. "Even though the vaccine looks like it's coming, it's still going to take some time."

On top of a widely available vaccine , several pieces must fall into place for Las Vegas and Nevada tourism to attract people again.

"You need to have international travel," Stutz said. "That's why Palazzo closed . They didn't have international business. It's a ghost town there. I think others are going to do the midweek closure for a while. The business just isn't there."

Without international travel and with devastated domestic travel , Las Vegas has become a regional gambling hub for drive-in business from California and Arizona.

Visitation is now down to levels the state hasn't seen since 1993 . With concerts and conventions canceled and hotel towers closed , Nevada will remain in financial trouble, with thousands of jobless residents stuck in a jammed unemployment system until COVID-19 restrictions are rolled back and travelers regain their confidence.

"It's still going to be a very slow process," Stutz said.

How long will it take?

Some tourism experts say next Christmas. Others say two years from now .

"Everybody's all over the place," Stutz said. "If the vaccine works, if this pandemic starts going away and other parts of the economy start rebounding, then we're going to start seeing more visitation maybe by summer."

But even with a bump in visitation, Nevada will have to play catch-up.

In 2019, Nevada generated $12 billion in gambling revenue. It was the first time in 12 years that the state reached that mark – and only the third time ever.

Gaming revenue is now down 36%. It stands to further dwindle by year's end.

"November is going to be a terrible month," Stutz said. "December is going to be even worse, because there's no rodeo and all the New Year's Eve stuff has been canceled. It's going to be a while before we get back."

Vaccine is only answer for slumping confidence

Even if Las Vegas opened every hotel tower, brought back every live show and Nevada allowed large conventions to return, a big problem remains: Getting people to feel confident enough to travel again.

"How do you get the certainty back?" Macquarie research analyst Chad Beynon said. "How can you announce one of these big concerts or events being open to the public if you don't know that you're going to be able to fill it?"

The solution, he said, is the vaccine, the first of which was approved by the FDA for U.S. distribution on Friday.

"That'll be the big thing," Beynon said. "We have three companies that are pretty far along in the process with the vaccine. If it's fully distributed and kids are back at school at the end of the first quarter, I think that's when people will start to get more comfortable – when their lives are a little more normal."

But the vaccine timeline could be a tricky one. An exclusive USA TODAY Network survey of health officials in all 50 states revealed a patchwork of preparations and different distribution plans that may mean wide variations in what the rollout looks like as it expands across the nation.

Asked how much of her staff's time is being taken up with getting ready for COVID-19 vaccinations, Nevada Immunization Program Manager Shannon Bennett answered simply, " all of it ."

Vegas can't slogan its way out of this one

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, travelers stopped flying. Plummeting casino revenue and visitor numbers forced tourism officials here to find a new way to draw people.

Part of the solution was a slogan: "What happens here, stays here." The R&R Partners advertising campaign launched in 2002 aimed to make people feel comfortable again.

And it worked. When travelers began to plot their getaways, they looked to the glittering Las Vegas Strip – a place where you could forget your problems and responsibilities.

“It is reflective of Las Vegas as a place where I can come and escape my doldrums and escape the treadmill that’s my life," R&R Partners CEO Billy Vassiliadis told the Las Vegas Sun in 2014.

But for most of the U.S. in 2020, COVID-19 made the classic Las Vegas vacation an impossibility, and no catch-phrase would bring it back.

'A pent-up need to celebrate something'

When the pandemic collapsed the visitor stream to Nevada, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and R&R Partners launched a new 30-second television spot that aimed to reflect a post-pandemic landscape.

The new campaign – called “Reimagined” – offered a toned-down glimpse of Las Vegas tourism, focusing on outdoor recreation and intimate settings. One shot showed a man and woman in a warm bar conversation, a glass of wine separating them.

But as December ticks away, air travel to Las Vegas remains down by 50 percent.

"The long-term solution is the vaccine," Vassiliadis told the USA TODAY Network Wednesday. "As the vaccine goes beyond just health care workers and first responders and the public starts to get vaccinated, I think we'll see an easing of the tension – an incremental growth in confidence and a sense of comfort."

The Las Vegas pitchman is optimistic about what will happen in Nevada's tourism markets when people start traveling again.

"Assuming the general public starts to get vaccinated in April," Vassiliadis said, "there won't be a recovery. There will be a boom in Vegas. In my regular life, I've either said it or heard it a hundred times: 'Honey, we'll celebrate my birthday next year when it's OK,' or 'Honey, we'll do our anniversary next year' or 'We'll save up all the events we missed and have one big party.'"

Las Vegas is where they'll go, he said.

"Vegas is a place where people come and celebrate special things," Vassiliadis said. "Bachelorette parties, bachelor parties, anniversaries, the first time we met, whatever it may be. There's a pent up need to celebrate something, and I think seeing the end of the pandemic will create cause and reason for recapturing the missed moments."

Ed Komenda writes about Las Vegas for the Reno Gazette Journal and USA Today Network. Do you care about democracy? Then support local journalism by subscribing to the Reno Gazette Journal .

This article originally appeared on Reno Gazette Journal: Las Vegas: When will Nevada tourism rebound from COVID-19 impact?

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Economic Impact Driven by Las Vegas Tourism Industry Hits Record High $79.3 Billion in 2022

Ask Skift: How Has Las Vegas Tourism Changed?

Rashaad Jorden , Skift

November 17th, 2023 at 1:14 PM EST

Las Vegas has made rapid recovery from the pandemic, but casinos are far from the only attraction that's boosted the city's rebound. Here's a look at what else Las Vegas is showcasing to attract visitors.

Rashaad Jorden

Tourism to Las Vegas has made a strong recovery from the pandemic, with visitor spending hitting a record $79.3 billion in 2022 .

How has the city’s tourism industry changed? We posed the question to  Ask Skift , our artificial intelligence chatbot. It provided answers using information that has appeared in our past news coverage and research, and we also conducted additional reporting on the subject.

Ask Skift said:

Yes, the Las Vegas tourism industry has reinvented itself to adapt to changing trends and demands in the market.

For instance, the Las Vegas Sands has shifted its business mix to cater more to the mass segment rather than focusing solely on the VIP segment. This strategy has proven successful with their operating capacity now standing at about 12,000 rooms with increasing hotel occupancy rates.

Moreover, MGM Resorts International has expanded its offerings beyond traditional casino operations, finding that events like Formula One’s inaugural stop in Las Vegas are drawing in visitors.

It’s also important to note that Las Vegas resorts underwent significant rebranding and overhauls , especially post-recession, signaling the city’s recovery and commitment to reinvention.

Finally, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) plays a crucial role in reinvention efforts through targeted ad campaigns and partnerships , strategizing to attract more visitors and keep business thriving in the city.

So, the reinvention of the Las Vegas tourism industry appears to be a continuous process, responding to trends and focusing on customer needs to ensure its vitality and relevance in the global tourism market.

What else you need to know:

Steve Hill, CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority , said sports will be a critical part of the city’s tourism strategy . The city is hosting Formula 1’s Las Vegas Grand Prix , which drew more than 100,000 fans for practice, qualifying and featured races . Hill said the event, which is taking place on the city’s quietest weekends for tourism, would inject $1.3 billion into the local economy .

And Las Vegas will welcome the Super Bowl in February 2024, which is projected to bring roughly 330,000 visitors .

Roughly 6% of all visitors to Las Vegas in 2022 told the LVCVA that they attended a sporting event. That’s double the percentage of people who said the same five years earlier. Meanwhile, tourists in 2022 spent more than $117 per trip on shows and entertainment, more than double the figure from 2019 .

Sporting and entertainment are part of the booming “fun economy,” which Bo Bernhard, vice president of economic development at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, said is nine times bigger than the global pharmaceutical industry .

In addition, visitors to Las Vegas have gotten younger . A LVCVA study found that average age of visitors to the city in 2022 was 40.7 years, down from 43.2 years in 2021. Tourism to Las Vegas has overall taken a similar turn over the past 30 years – the average age of visitors in 1992 was 47.2.

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Tags: ask skift , las vegas , las vegas convention & visitors authority , nevada , sports tourism

Photo credit: Tourism to Las Vegas has made a strong recovery from the pandemic. Grant Cai / Unsplash

How will Las Vegas tourism evolve in 2023? We asked an insider who knows.

Nevada casinos are raking in more money than ever .

And while the number of visitors landing in Las Vegas remains behind peak levels recorded pre-pandemic, that number is ticking upward .

Shows are back. Conventions are back. And as far as Las Vegas tourism authorities are concerned, the pandemic is a thing of the past . But the Las Vegas of today remains in transition between then and now — in the middle of a reinvention that aims to shift its reputation from a desert city of sin to a global center of sports .

The NHL, NFL and WNBA have already settled into town. F1 is on the way , and an MLB franchise may be poised to relocate there soon. All the while, the powers that be are trying to figure out a way to retrieve international travelers that have yet to fully return. And sports may be part of the solution.

To get a sense of where Las Vegas tourism stands heading into 2023, the RGJ connected with someone who would know: Steve Hill, CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, the government agency tasked with getting people to the glittering tourism mecca.

Here's what he had to say about everything from the lack of international travel from Asia, the state of conventions and the role of sports in the future of Las Vegas. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

On possible challenges to the Las Vegas tourism industry in 2023 : There are some potential headwinds, but so far the headwinds are there and we are just flying through them, and they’re not bothering us a whole lot. The tourism and hospitality industry nationally has done well despite concerns about a recession and inflation and things like that. The other couple (challenges) are the full recovery of international travel, particularly from Asia. And the war in Eastern Europe is generally a global concern — and those kinds of concerns aren’t helpful. All of those things reaching a conclusion, which will happen at some point, provides more opportunity going forward.

On getting back to pre-pandemic visitor numbers : Vegas recovered back to a very healthy situation really quickly. From a visitation and occupancy standpoint, it’s not quite what it was in 2019 , but it’s within 10 percent. After that, it becomes an incremental process. If you do the math on this right now, most of that is the lack of international visitation — largely from Asia. We’ve recovered now maybe about 80 percent of our international visitation. A lot of those international visitors are also our meeting and trade show visitors. They play a big role in filling rooms midweek. We’re roughly full on weekends . We still have some work to do in the midweeks.

On the state of tourism and conventions after COVID-19 : We’re so far past COVID as a concern. It’s really not affecting much of anything in Las Vegas at this point. The first citywide show we had was World of Concrete in June of 2021, so it’s been 20 months since that show took place. Over that period of time, everything has gone back to normal. Individual shows are probably on average about 80 or 85 percent of what they were from a size standpoint. People have gotten more comfortable with Zoom and Teams calls, but I think it has more to do with companies realizing, "Hey, we can save a little money" after having been through a pandemic. What CEOs of companies around the country whose companies participate in these trade shows are telling us is, "Yes, we think we’re going to be at 85 or 90 percent of the size they used to be." That is turning out to be what we’re seeing.

On sports becoming the center of the Las Vegas experience : Sports is going to be at the center, along with the other great things that Las Vegas has to offer, going forward. We are going to be a center of the sports world. Vegas has drawn a lot of attention from some pretty interesting teams and leagues and events because of the success of the Golden Knights and the Raiders and the Aces and UFC. They have shown what the combination of sports and Las Vegas makes possible. It makes selling Las Vegas and sports a very easy thing.

On the evolution of the identity of Las Vegas : We talk a lot in Vegas about Las Vegas reinventing itself. And I think we’ve gotten to the point where we are just adding great things and not necessarily jettisoning the great culinary scene or the great shopping or gaming or all the things that Vegas has become known for. But sports has really expanded the brand.

On sports changing the reputation of Las Vegas : I hear this internationally when I travel about the old, stereotypical view of Las Vegas — that the further away you get, the more likely that stereotypical view of Las Vegas is going to be held. Sports — Formula 1 and the NFL in particular, because they are such global sports at this point — have started to really change how our international visitors view Las Vegas. And domestically, it’s just one really big, great thing to add to what Las Vegas has been. There is no city that is built in a better way for sports. The game in Philadelphia or Miami or Indianapolis can be a great game, but the experience around the game is so much different than it is in any other place in the world. Everything is walkable, you can have a great meal, you can go to a show, you can do anything you want around the game, where in most places you’re in traffic both before and after the game. And that has been a tremendous draw for the city.

Visitor Statistics

Lvcva executive summary of southern nevada tourism indicators.

Compiled and distributed by the LVCVA Research Center, the monthly LVCVA Executive Summary reflects tourism data from several agencies including the LVCVA, Harry Reid International Airport, the Nevada Gaming Control Board and the NV Dept. of Transportation (NDOT).

March 2024 Executive Summary

Year-to-Date Summary for 2024

Year-End Summary for 2023

Year-End Summary for 2022

Year-End Summary for 2021

Year-End Summary for 2020

Year-End Summary for 2019

Historical Visitation Statistics: 1970-2023

A historical review of key Las Vegas tourism indicators from 1970 to present.

Historical Visitation Statistics: 1970 to 2023

Contact Our Research Team

Looking for additional data or resources? Get in touch with the LVCVA Research Center, and we can help provide you with reliable facts and insights to help gain a deeper understanding of Las Vegas tourism.

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Lv to restore pre-pandemic tourism business in 2023, analyst predicts, by: dana gentry - november 20, 2020 12:54 pm.

(Photo: Ronda Churchill for Harry Reid International Airport)

Las Vegas will not only regain hospitality jobs lost to the pandemic, but will add more, says a new forecast from Moody’s Analytics that surveyed 69 tourism destinations. But it won’t happen overnight.  

The Southern Nevada tourism market suffered the largest drop of any metro area in the Moody’s report in a key metric for the hospitality industry — revenue per available room (REVpar) — down 55 percent from 2019 to 2020.  Employment in leisure and hospitality tumbled 20 percent in Las Vegas.  

Moody’s forecasts REVpar will exceed 2019 levels in Las Vegas in 2023. Local employment in leisure and hospitality is expected to grow by 29 percent from 2020 to 2025, a net gain of 9 percent from pre-pandemic levels.

Between 2014 and 2019, REVpar grew 63 percent in Las Vegas, the highest rate of the metro areas studied by Moody’s. Local employment in leisure and hospitality grew by six percent in the same time span. 

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reports REVpar was $50.60 in September, down 58.2 percent from $121 in 2019.  Average daily room rates were down 21 percent for the same period.    

With some hotels still closed because of the pandemic, Southern Nevada’s room inventory is down 10.7 percent, from 149,050 in September 2019 to 133,079 this year, according to the LVCVA. 

Moody’s reports beach destinations on the east coast “suffered less of a decline in the second quarter than the country overall.”

“Those that suffered the most in the second quarter were destination metros including Las Vegas and Orlando along with denser, northern urban markets and others less recognized for tourism,” says Moody’s. “Most of these improved in the third quarter in line with the U.S. average.”  

“The hotel forecasts show that the pace of recovery for all metros varies depending on how their economy performs going forward: those more reliant on business travel will see slower recovery in the short run, while those with outdoor amenities in dense parts of the U.S. will see a faster recovery,” the report says.

Las Vegas derives its weekday business primarily from business travel.

Travel and tourism in America last year topped $1 trillion, with leisure travel making up 70 percent and business travel accounting for about 30 percent, according to the U.S. Tourism Association.

Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our website. AP and Getty images may not be republished. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of any other photos and graphics.

Dana Gentry

Dana Gentry is a native Las Vegan and award-winning investigative journalist. She is a graduate of Bishop Gorman High School and holds a Bachelor's degree in Communications from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Nevada Current is part of States Newsroom , the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

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Strong growth for tourism.

The gains made last year and the trends early in 2023 have brought a full-scale recovery within sight.

Southern Nevada’s tourism industry experienced a year of strong growth in 2022, with many key metrics reaching post-pandemic highs. While the industry still trailed many 2019 benchmarks, the gains made last year and the trends early in 2023 have brought a full-scale recovery within sight.

According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, visitor volume reached 40.4 million in March 2023 on a trailing 12-month basis, a 13.6 percent increase compared with March 2022. The latest number was within 5.6 percent of the pre-pandemic high in February 2020. Convention attendance also made strong gains over the year, but its recovery has not been as robust compared to broader leisure visitation. In March 2023, convention attendance reached 5.7 million during the past 12 months, a 68.9 percent increase from March 2022. This marked the highest attendance level since March 2020, when the pandemic halted conventions and other large in-person gatherings. Despite the gains in convention activity over the past year, it remained 14.7 percent lower than in February 2020.

A key driver of the tourism rebound during the past year has been sourced to a number of special events, high-profile concerts and a strong mix of professional sporting events. The Harry Reid International Airport has been a source of travel for a significant number of visitors; passenger counts have more than recovered from their pandemic-era lows. March 2023 set a monthly record with 4.9 million passengers, bringing the trailing 12-month total to an all-time high of 55.4 million. That total exceeded the pre-pandemic high in February 2020 by over 3 million, or 6.5 percent. Meanwhile, average daily auto traffic on Interstate 15 at the California border also exceeded pre-pandemic values at 45,524 (trailing 12-month average) by 1.6 percent. However, this was down 5.9 percent from March 2022.

Hotel occupancy rates reached 90.5 percent on the Las Vegas Strip in March 2023 and 88.3 percent across Southern Nevada. Both were post-pandemic highs, though they remained about 3 percentage points below pre-pandemic levels. The average daily room rate in Southern Nevada climbed to its highest level of all time in March 2023 at $213.25, a 30.7 percent increase over March 2022 and a 59.2 percent increase over March 2019. The prior monthly record was the $209.89 set in October 2022, which was the first time the average daily room rate exceeded $200.

Gaming revenue in Clark County in March 2023 totaled of $13.1 billion on a 12-month basis, which was 6.0 percent higher than a year earlier and 25.8 percent higher than the February 2020 value of $10.4 billion. The growth was fueled by 11 straight months of gaming revenue exceeding $1 billion. The Las Vegas Strip reached $8.5 billion in gaming revenue over the 12 months through March 2023, a 9.0 percent annual increase compared to a 6.0 percent annual increase for Southern Nevada as a whole. In downtown Las Vegas, gross gaming revenues were the highest of all time in March 2023, reaching $903.4 million on a trailing 12-month basis.

The momentum in Southern Nevada’s tourism industry through 2022 and into 2023 appears poised to continue in the months ahead. There are over 600 events scheduled for 2023, including concerts by Beyoncé and U2 and Las Vegas’ first ever Formula 1 race. Meanwhile, the $3.1 billion Fontainebleau, the Durango Casino and Resort and the MSG Sphere, a first-of-its-kind 18,000-seat entertainment hall, highlight the new resorts and amenities scheduled to open later this year to support further expansion of the region’s critical tourism industry.

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Las Vegas Visitor Statistics and Tourism Figures 2022

It’s little wonder that Las Vegas is a hub for tourists and visitors. Sin City is widely considered the entertainment capital of the world. And while it’s most known for its casinos and gambling, the city also plays host to world class singers and stars in residencies across its many phenomenal venues.

But just how huge is tourism in the city? We took a look at Las Vegas visitor statistics and travel demand and here’s all the facts and figures you need about the scale of Vegas tourism.

Key Vegas Visitor Statistics

Here for the quick version? Find out fast Vegas visitor stats below. If you want more detail, read on!

• A quarter of Brits named Vegas as one of the top 3 US cities they’d most like to visit (putting Vegas third behind New York City (41%) and Los Angeles (26%)
• In 2019, Las Vegas attracted a phenomenal 42.5 million tourists
• This dropped by more than half in 2020 at the height of the pandemic, with just 19 million visitors recorded that year
• Hotel room inventory in Las Vegas was a mere 25,430 in 1970. By 2019 this reached 150,259
• Incredibly, those rooms were 88.9% occupied on average throughout 2019 (that average rose to 95% on weekends)
• In 2019, 15% of the 42.5 million visitors attended a convention in the city while there

Las Vegas Tourism: How Many Brits Want to Visit?

Pre-pandemic and border closures, Brits were a huge source of tourism to the US with over 4.5 million visitors arriving from the UK annually according to statistics . 

But that figure only focuses on those who’ve made it here. What we wanted to find out is how many Brits want to visit the US and, more specifically, Las Vegas.

So we polled 2,000 Brits in November 2021 to ask them:

“Which of the following US cities would you most like to visit (pick up to 3)?”

We gave respondents a list of the top 25 largest US cities by population with the option to also specify others or that they don’t want to visit any.

Here’s what they told us:

• A quarter of Brits want to visit Las Vegas, according to our figures

The 25% of Brits who want to visit Las Vegas makes Sin City the third most popular choice behind New York (41%) and Los Angeles (26%).

There are some variations by age and gender too.

While movies like The Hangover may lead you to believe Vegas is a more popular choice amongst Bachelor parties and male groups, it’s actually women who are likeliest to say they want to visit (27% vs 23% of men).

The breakdown varies by age too.

Just under a third of Brits aged 25 to 44 name Vegas in their top 3 desirable US cities to visit. At the other end of that scale, just 17% of over 55s do the same.

Whether it’s for the shows, attractions, or the top restaurants in Las Vegas , what’s clear from our statistics is that far more than the 4.5 million Brits who make it to Vegas each year actually want to. Vegas is the third most popular city in the States as a desired tourist stop by Brits and as borders reopen, let’s hope the city is welcoming many of them.

Official Las Vegas Visitor Numbers Through History

Data from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitor Authority goes back to 1970 and covers visitor statistics, those visiting for conventions and figures around hotel room inventory and occupancy.

We’ve pulled together data from the LVCVA to look at numbers over time.

• In 1970, there were 6.7 million visitors to Las Vegas
• In 2019, this had grown to 42.5 million
• In 2020, following the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic, visitor numbers fell to just 19 million, the lowest number since 1989.
• In 2021, there were 32,230,600 visitors to Las Vegas, showing a stark recovery despite travel restrictions for overseas visitors still in place for much of the year.

Let’s cast the pandemic aside for one moment. What these Vegas visitor statistics show is that Las Vegas is a city whose popularity with tourists surges year after year after year. With few exceptions, tourism in the city grows consistently.

And even in the midst of a global pandemic, Vegas still attracted over 19 million visitors in 2020. The first 10 months of 2021 showed some recovery, with over 26 million visitors recorded with 2 months of the year to go.

How Many Hotel Rooms are There in Las Vegas?

The data from the LVCVA also goes into detail about hotel room inventory in the city and occupancy too.

So let’s see how that looks over time.

• In 1970, there were just over 25,000 hotel rooms in Las Vegas
• Fast forward to 2021 and that number was 150,535

Unsurprisingly, as the city’s tourist numbers have risen, so too has the supply of hotel rooms. And Las Vegas now has over 150,000 rooms available.

That sounds like a lot of rooms, right? But the high occupancy rates of these hotel rooms (according to the figures) suggest they’re absolutely necessary.

• Between 1986 and 2019, hotel annual average occupancy never fell below 80%
• The Covid effect saw occupancy in 20% fall to an all time low of 42%
• 2021 averaged 68.8% – better than 2020 but still lower than occupancy in 1970

What’s clear is the astronomical impact that the pandemic has had on hotels and hospitality businesses. Signs of recovery are positive, but there’s some way to go before Vegas is back at those not-far-off 90% occupancy levels pre-pandemic.

Vegas Tourism Statistics in Search

We think a great indicator of demand and mood is Google! Whether it’s shopping for gifts, Googling healthcare symptoms or planning the trip of a lifetime, millions of us take to Google every single day.

So understanding how people are searching for things related to travel to Vegas gives us some really amazing insight. We used kwfinder.com to get estimates of the number of monthly searches made in the USA (and specific states within) for different words and phrases around Las Vegas travel.

Here’s what we found.

• Unsurprisingly, there was a significant dip in searches for flights, hotels and things to do in the aftermath of Covid-19 being declared a pandemic
• But things are starting to recover. Our data shows that demand in Google search was higher in October 2021 for hotels and things to do than in October 2019, pre-Pandemic
• Between October 2019 and October 2021 inclusive, there were 10,883,000 (almost 11 million!) searches in Google USA for “ Las Vegas hotels ”
• In the same timeframe, statistics from kwfinder.com show there were 2,207,000 searches for “ things to do in Las Vegas ”
• Over that period, Google USA saw 5,441,500 searches for “flights to Vegas”
• In February 2022, the statistics show that monthly searches in the USA for “Las Vegas hotels” his 1,000,000 for the first time

Post Pandemic Las Vegas Visitor Statistics – The Future is Bright?

The LVCVA figures show a marked recovery in the first 10 months of 2021. And search volume in Google is also recovering too, which includes family travel terms such as “ Las Vegas with kids “. Our statistics all point to the fact that once travel is as feasible as it once was Vegas will be back bigger and better than ever before.

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Las vegas visitors increase in march, even without one of the biggest conventions.

LAS VEGAS ( KLAS ) — More than 3.6 million people visited Las Vegas in March, building on the tourism momentum that’s now 4.2% ahead of last year’s pace.

With 3,671,500 visitors, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), there was still plenty of room for improvement as hotels were without a big money-maker — the once-every-three-years CONEXPO‐CON/AGG tradeshow, which brought 142,000 conventioneers last year and won’t return until 2026. That comparison put a dent in convention attendance (down 37.2% compared to March 2023), hotel revenue (revenue per available room down 19.2%) and room prices (average daily rate down 16.4%).

Figures released by Harry Reid International Airport showed a 2% increase (compared to March 2023) in arriving and departing passengers, coming in at a total of 5,043,368. The airport’s biggest carrier, Southwest Airlines, carried more than 1.9 million passengers in March, a 12.9% increase over a year ago. Spirit Airlines, the second-biggest carrier, dropped by 14.7% with 627,142 passengers.

2023 Las Vegas tourism ends with records for air passengers, casino wins

The number of international travelers in March increased by 26.2% compared to March 2023.

The economic reports released near the end of each month show continuing signs of a solid tourism market.

LAST MONTH: Visitors, Las Vegas hotel room rates up in February, LVCVA report shows

Visitor volume is up 0.4% compared to March 2023, the LVCVA report shows. Hotel occupancy was just over 85% for the month

Overall hotel occupancy reached 85.3% for the month, with the additions of the 3,644-room Fontainebleau Las Vegas and the 209-room Durango Casino & Resort. Those openings added about 3.9% more rooms to the mix.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.

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The Recovery Left Nevada Behind. Can the State Change Its Luck?

Nevada has the highest unemployment rate in the country at 5.4 percent as officials insist the economy must move away from its focus on gambling.

Pedro Alvarez became one of tens of thousands of hospitality workers in Nevada to lose their jobs when the Las Vegas Strip shut down early in the coronavirus pandemic. Credit... Gabriella Angotti-Jones for The New York Times

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By Kurtis Lee

Reporting from Las Vegas

• Published Aug. 4, 2023 Updated Aug. 7, 2023

Pedro Alvarez never imagined his high school job delivering filet mignon and sautéed lobster tail to rooms at the Tropicana Las Vegas would turn into a longtime career.

But in a city that sells itself as a place to disappear into decadence, if for only a weekend, providing room service to tourists along the Strip proved to be a stable job, at times even a lucrative one, for more than 30 years.

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“Movie stars and thousands of dollars in tips,” Mr. Alvarez, 53, said. “If it was up to me, I was never going to leave.”

Yet when the Strip shut down for more than two months early in the coronavirus pandemic, Mr. Alvarez became one of tens of thousands of hospitality workers in Nevada to lose their jobs. After the hotel reopened, managers told him that they were discontinuing room service, at least for a while. Since then, he has bounced between jobs, working in concessions and banquets.

“It’s been an uphill climb to find full-time work,” he said.

Nevada is an outlier in the pandemic recovery. While the U.S. economy has bounced back and weathered a steep ratcheting-up of interest rates — and even as many Americans catch up on vacation travel that the coronavirus derailed — the Silver State has been left behind.

Job numbers nationwide have continued to increase every month for more than two years, but the unemployment rate has remained stubbornly high in Nevada, a political swing state whose economic outlook often has national implications.

The state has had the highest unemployment rate in the nation for the past year, currently at 5.4 percent, compared with the national rate of 3.5 percent; in Las Vegas, it’s around 6 percent.

Because of Nevada’s reliance on gambling, tourism and hospitality — a lack of economic diversity that worries elected officials amid fears of a nationwide recession — the state was exceptionally hard hit during the shutdowns on the Strip. Unemployment in the state reached 30 percent in April 2020.

And although the situation has improved drastically since then — over the past year, employment increased 4 percent, among the highest rates in the country — Nevada was in a deeper hole than other states.

“This leads to a bit of a paradox,” said David Schmidt, the chief economist for the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation. “We are seeing rapid job gains, but have unemployment that is higher than other states.”

Nearly a quarter of jobs in Nevada are in leisure and hospitality, and international travel to Las Vegas is down by about 40 percent since 2019, including drops in visits from China, where the economy is slowing , and the United Kingdom, according to an estimate from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

Union officials say there are about 20 percent fewer hospitality workers in the city than before the pandemic.

Gov. Joe Lombardo acknowledged the state’s high unemployment in a statement, saying that “many of our businesses and much of our work force are still recovering from the turmoil of the pandemic.”

“The long-term economic solution to Nevada’s employment and work force challenges begins with diversifying our economy, investing in work force development and training,” said Mr. Lombardo, a Republican, who unseated a Democrat last year in a tight race in which he attacked his opponent and President Biden over the economy.

The state is making progress toward those diversification goals, Mr. Lombardo said, citing Elon Musk’s announcement in January that Tesla would invest $3.6 billion in the company’s Gigafactory outside Reno to produce electric semi trucks and advanced battery cells, vowing to add 3,000 jobs.

Major League Baseball is preparing for the relocation of the Oakland Athletics to Las Vegas, where a stadium to be built adjacent to the Strip will, by some projections, create 14,000 construction jobs. The Las Vegas Grand Prix — signifying Formula 1 racing’s return to the city for the first time since the 1980s — is expected to draw huge crowds this fall, as is the Super Bowl in 2024.

Despite the state’s unemployment rate, the fact that the economy is trending in the right direction, both locally and nationally, bodes well for Mr. Biden’s chances in the state as the 2024 campaign begins, said Dan Lee, a professor of political science at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

“Should it remain on the right track,” Mr. Lee said, “that’s clearly good for the incumbent.”

But a potential complication lies ahead.

The Culinary Workers Union Local 226, which represents 60,000 hotel workers, has been in talks since April on a new contract to replace the five-year agreement that expired in June. The union could take a strike authorization vote this fall in an attempt to pressure major hotels, including MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment and other casino companies, to give pay raises and bring back more full-time jobs.

More than a potential strike, the union, which estimates it has 10,000 members who remain out of work since the pandemic started, is a critical bloc of Mr. Biden’s Democratic base in Nevada. In 2020, Mr. Biden won the state by roughly two percentage points in part because of a huge ground operation by the culinary union. Those members could be difficult to organize should a shaky economic climate in the state persist.

“Companies cut workers during the pandemic, and now these same companies are making record profits but don’t want to bring back enough workers to do the work,” said Ted Pappageorge, the head of the local, which is affiliated with the union UNITE HERE. “Workload issues are impacting all departments.”

For Juanita Miles, landing a stable, full-time job has been challenging.

For much of the past decade, she worked as a security guard, patching together gigs at several hotels and restaurants. But when the pandemic hit and businesses closed, she realized she would need to pivot.

“I’m now looking anywhere, for anything,” Ms. Miles, 49, recalled.

In late 2020, she took a $19-an-hour job as a part-time dishwasher at the Wynn Las Vegas, Ms. Miles said, but the hotel soon reduced its staff and she lost her job. She returned, for a time, to working security at hotel pools, nightclubs and apartment complexes.

But Ms. Miles started to feel increasingly unsafe on the job during her night shifts, she said, recounting the time a man who appeared to be high on drugs followed her onto her bus home early one morning after a shift.

“I was no longer willing to risk my life,” Ms. Miles said inside an air-conditioned casino along the Strip where she had stopped for a respite from the 110-degree heat outside.

As slot machines clanged in the background and people packed around craps tables, Ms. Miles reflected on the job interview she had just come from at a nearby Walgreens.

She thought it had gone well, she said, and she hoped it would pan out. The $15-an-hour pay would help cover her $1,400 rent, as well as the other monthly bills — cellphone, $103; utilities, $200; groceries, $300 — that she splits with her husband, who works at a call center.

“Things are going to be tight no matter what,” Ms. Miles said, adding that if offered the job, she still hoped to eventually find something with higher pay.

Her dream, she said, is to open a day care center — a fulfilling job that would allow her to alleviate some of the pressure she knows rests on many parents.

For Mr. Alvarez, the longtime Tropicana employee, any hope of returning to the job he long enjoyed is increasingly fleeting. The hotel, which opened in 1957, is on track to be demolished to make space for the new Athletics baseball stadium.

“The city and the state seem to be on the rise,” he said. “But workers cannot be left behind.”

After he lost his job at the Tropicana, Mr. Alvarez started working at Allegiant Stadium when it opened to fans in fall 2020.

He helped set up platters of food in the stadium’s suites during football games, but the work, which was part time, ended when the season was over.

“I was putting together two and sometimes three jobs, just to make enough to live,” he said.

Several times during the pandemic, he said, he has feared he might lose his home in North Las Vegas, which he bought in 2008. (Eviction filings in the Las Vegas area in April were up 49 percent from before the pandemic, according to a report from The Eviction Lab at Princeton University .)

He filed for unemployment benefits and eventually found part-time work at the Park MGM as a doorman. On a recent morning, Mr. Alvarez put on his gray vest and tie and prepared to begin his midday shift there.

In June, the Vegas Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup finals at the T-Mobile Arena next door to the Park MGM. Witnessing the joy and celebration that swept through the hotel reminded him of why he had stayed in the industry.

“Helping people and bringing them joy is what this city is all about,” he said. “I just hope I can keep doing this work.”

Audio produced by Adrienne Hurst .

Kurtis Lee is an economics correspondent based in Los Angeles. Before joining The Times in 2022, he was a national correspondent for The Los Angeles Times, writing about gun violence, income inequality and race in America. More about Kurtis Lee

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Fewer tourists and less spending in Las Vegas as inflation takes its toll

Americans are keeping their wallets closed as fear of a recession remains — even in las vegas.

Economic landscape is 'shifting from inflation risk to recession risk': Saira Malik

Nuveen CIO Saira Malik discusses Nuveen's 2023 Playbook, if a recession is inevitable, and provides tips and an outlook on stocks, on 'Barron's Roundtable.'

Inflation is taking its toll on Sin City as fewer tourists are visiting the gambling Mecca, and those who do spend less than usual, according to a new report.

The University of Las Vegas business school released a report forecasting the city's economic outlook between 2022 and 2024 and noted that its economy turned grim in June of this year, according to Fox 5. 

"Interest rates have gone up. And we know that we know that prices are going up as well. And that’s what the Fed is trying to get their hands around and solve. So it may be that the Fed’s policies is having an effect not only nationally, but it’s also affecting our economy locally," one of the study's authors, Professor Stephen Miller, told the outlet.

Miller's findings indicate that Las Vegas has had fewer and fewer visitors since this summer when adjusted for holiday travel surges.

ECONOMIC INDEX FLASHES MAJOR RECESSION WARNING SIGN

A stock photo of the world famous Las Vegas city skyline.

Inflation increased by 8.3% since August 2017. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics / Fox News)

INFLATION FIGHT COULD LAST UNTIL 2024, FED OFFICIAL WARNS

While the rise of inflation has cooled somewhat since late summer, the issue remains top-of-mind for most Americans.

The Federal Reserve has adjusted interest rates in an attempt to bring down inflation, but some members have criticized President Biden's efforts to address the issue.

Austan Goolsbee, the new president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, criticized Biden's calls to limit the price of gas, arguing a windfall tax on oil companies would only exacerbate the problem.

President Joe Biden speaks about the Paycheck Protection Program during an event in the South Court Auditorium on the White House campus, Monday, Feb. 22, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) (AP Photo/Evan Vucci / AP Newsroom)

Biden, though, has been a vocal supporter of a windfall tax on oil companies, which he has blamed for higher gas prices in the wake of the Ukraine war. He has also asked Congress to suspend the federal gas tax .

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"They — they have the opportunity to do that — lowering prices for consumers at the pump," Biden remarked during a speech on Oct. 31. "You know, if they don’t, they’re going to pay a higher tax on their excess profits and face other restrictions." 

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Las Vegas sees big convention decline, visitation up slightly

The number of passengers using Harry Reid International Airport in March was the third highest in the airport’s history, with international travel fueling that growth.

Visitor volume in Las Vegas increased slightly in March despite a huge decline in convention attendance for the month, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported Thursday.

Meanwhile, hotel occupancy and average daily room rates fell despite near-record traffic at Harry Reid International Airport and a slight uptick in vehicle traffic on major highways to Las Vegas.

Visitation was up 0.4 percent to 3.67 million, but convention attendance fell by 37.2 percent compared with a year ago — a statistic more reflective of a tough comparison with March 2023 when the ConExpo-Con/Ag construction equipment trade show was in Las Vegas than a poor showing this year.

Hotel occupancy fell 3 percentage points to 85.3 percent in March and the average daily room rate dropped 16.4 percent to $178.26 a night.

For the first quarter of 2024, visitation is up 4.2 percent from last year to 10.43 million, while convention visitation is off 7.2 percent to 1.8 million for the first three months of the year.

Kevin Bagger, who heads LVCVA research, said the tough comparison against March 2023 included the room occupancy and room rate categories, which posted records a year ago.

RevPAR, or revenue per room, a profitability metric, was also down from a year ago by 19.2 percent to $152.06.

Also Thursday, the Clark County Department of Aviation reported near-record passenger counts at Harry Reid International Airport in March as more than 5 million passengers passed through the airport’s gates for only the third time ever.

In March, 5.043 million passengers arrived or departed from Reid International. The record of 5.47 million was set in October, and there were 5.18 million in October 2022.

A high volume of international traffic contributed to the busy month with 314,577 arrivals and departures — a 22.8 percent increase from March 2023. That’s the second highest post-pandemic total, trailing the 315,147 recorded in October.

Domestically, passenger counts were up 1.3 percent to 4.652 million, with market leader Southwest Airlines recording its second-highest passenger total at the Las Vegas airport. The Dallas-based airline reported 1.948 million passengers, a 14.2 percent increase from a year earlier and just below the 1.966 in October.

Southwest is offering the highest number of flights to and from Las Vegas in its history — 241 a day — and is using larger-capacity planes on many of its routes.

Internationally, Canadian discounter Westjet carried the most passengers to Reid, with 74,839 for the month, followed by Air Canada with 60,246. The top overseas carrier was British Airways, with 20,025 passengers.

Reid passenger numbers were up from a year earlier, despite a 17.3 percent decline in passengers using the westside and helicopter terminal, which reported 76,660 passengers.

For the first quarter of 2024, Reid passenger counts are up 1.7 percent from a year earlier, with 13.7 million. If that level can be maintained, Reid would surpass 2023’s record of 57.6 million passengers.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at [email protected] or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.

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A New High-Speed Train Between Las Vegas and California Breaks Ground This Week

Brightline will shuttle passengers between sin city and an l.a. suburb in just over two hours., tori latham, tori latham's most recent stories.

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The future of train travel is beginning to take shape.

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The $12 billion project is scheduled to be completed by early 2028, The Washington Post noted, in time for people who will be in the area for that year’s Summer Olympics in L.A. Brightline’s electric trains will leave every 45 minutes from both stations, making two additional stops in the California towns of Hesperia and Apple Valley during the 218-mile journey. Going at speeds of 186 miles per hour, the train will cut down on the three-hour-plus travel time between Vegas and Rancho Cucamonga—and that’s without traffic, of course.

While we’ll have to wait a few years to get a taste of the Brightline trip, but the company is betting on it being game-changer when it comes to travel to and from Sin City.

Tori Latham is a digital staff writer at Robb Report. She was previously a copy editor at The Atlantic, and has written for publications including The Cut and The Hollywood Reporter. When not…

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