The volume of tourists to Las Vegas is nearing pre-pandemic levels despite convention attendance remaining 10% lower, one of the region’s top tourism promoters recently told economic forecasters.
Visitor volume was 42.5 million in 2019, plunged to 19 million in 2020, and had reached nearly 41 million in 2023, according to data presented last week by Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority CEO Steve Hill to the Economic Forum, a five-member appointed panel of economic and taxation experts tasked with setting Nevada’s official state government revenue forecast.
“As we look at 2024 year-to-date we are almost back, nearly back to that 42.5 million, but not quite there yet,” added Hill.
International travel remains below pre-pandemic levels, though recovery rates vary by country.
In 2023, visitation from Canada and Mexico was 96% and 97% recovered from pre-pandemic 2019. Those North American neighbors make up half of all international travelers to Las Vegas.
But overseas visitation is still lagging, especially from Asian countries. Visitation from China last year was roughly a third of what it was pre-pandemic. Japanese visitation is 44% of what it was. South Korean visitation is faring better at 78% of 2019 levels.
LVCVA is currently targeting tourists in the United Kingdom. Visitor count from the UK to Las Vegas in 2023 was 74% what it was pre-pandemic.
Convention tourism remains about 10% below pre-pandemic levels, Hill said. In 2019, 6.6 million visitors came to Las Vegas to attend a convention. In 2023, 6 million did. The LVCVA does not expect that number to naturally return to the pre-pandemic volume.
“We think we can grow this number but it will take a sales effort,” said Hill. “It is not waiting for others to return who have not yet returned.”
International visitation and convention visitation being down are overlapping issues, Hill noted, because international visitors can make up significant percentages of the attendees at major conventions. They make up about a third of attendees at the annual National Association of Broadcasters Show (known as NAB Show) and the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
Las Vegas has added 3.5 million square feet of meeting space in the past four years, which Hill said will help the LVCVA attract new shows. The authority would like to grow convention tourism to 8 million visitors annually, though that effort may be hindered by room availability, which currently could not accommodate that growth.
Room occupancy in Las Vegas averaged 83.5% in fiscal year 2024, compared to 88.4% in fiscal year 2019.
“We are relatively flat at this point, at that number,” Hill told the forecasters.
Hill said LVCVA believes they can target specific areas to boost that rate by 5 percentage points — “a significant number of visitors,” he added. That would bring average occupancy to 90%, which would be around the peak set several years prior to covid.
The average occupancy in Las Vegas is significantly higher than nationwide, according to STR, a data and analytics company focused on the hospitality industry. In 2024. The nationwide average occupancy rate was 62.8% compared to 83.5% in Las Vegas. This mirrors pre-pandemic trends of Las Vegas overperforming the nation by 20-23 percentage points. Las Vegas is also performing better than the top 25 tourism markets, though by a lesser margin.
RevPAR — a “revenue per available room” metric tourism officials use that compares revenue and occupancy rates — in Las Vegas is performing above national average.
Despite tourism volume not being fully recovered, visitor spending is already higher than pre-pandemic, according to data presented by Hill. Overall visitor spending was $51.5 billion last year and $44.9 billion in 2022, compared to $37 billion in 2019.
Nevada has also seen record levels of gaming win since the pandemic.
The Economic Forum will use information from Hill and other presenters to determine the state’s official revenue forecast, which is due in early December. That forecast will be used as the base for the state’s biennium budget, which will be passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor next year.
The forum is next scheduled to meet on Nov. 7, then again on Dec. 2.
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