Las Vegas tourism troubles deepen as visitor count drops 11.3 percent in June

By Greg Haas

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Tourism troubles for Las Vegas continued in June, with estimates showing the number of visitors down 11.3 percent compared to June of last year, reports released on Wednesday showed.

The trend deepened in June with lower convention attendance adding to the problem. Last month, higher convention attendance (+10.7 percent) helped cover some of the dip in Las Vegas visitors. But that didn’t happen in June, which had a 10.7 percent decline in convention attendance compared to June 2024.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitor Authority’s June report showed an estimated 3,094,800 people came to the city, down from 3,490,061 in June 2024.

A separate report from Harry Reid International Airport showed passenger counts plunged by 6.3 percent in June.

Both reports are signals that travel decisions are still suffering under the weight of economic uncertainty.

“Reflecting the broader backdrop of persistent economic uncertainty and weaker consumer confidence, compounded by a slower convention month, the destination saw a ‐11 percent YoY (year-over-year) decline in visitation, hosting approximately 3.1M visitors,” according to the LVCVA.

So far this calendar year, visitation is 7.3 percent lower than last year.

Travel from Canada has not returned to normal levels. Air Canada reported travelers had dropped 13.2 percent from May to June, and a year-over-year comparison showed totals a third lower in June.

Hotel occupancy fell to 78.7 percent overall in June, with midweek occupancy averaging 75.5 percent, according to the LVCVA report. Occupancy on the Strip was higher at 81.9 percent, but that’s still 6.4 percent lower than it was in June 2024, when 88.3 percent of Strip rooms were filled.

The biggest effect from that translates through RevPAR — revenue per available room — which shows a year-over-year decline of 13.5 percent on the Strip. Overall RevPAR came in 13.8 percent lower than last year, or about $129 per room, and downtown hotels were down 12.2 percent.

Room rates didn’t fall as fast, but were significantly down in June compared to last year. The average daily rate in Las Vegas is $163.64, down 6.6 percent. On the Strip, rates were 6.7 percent lower: $174.31.

Casinos bucked the trend, pulling out of their recent slide with improved numbers in June. The state’s gaming win was $1.33 billion in June, a 3.53 percent increase compared to June 2024. The Strip was up slightly, bringing in $765.3 million (+0.88 percent).

Even highway traffic to Las Vegas declined in June, down 4.3 percent at the Nevada-California border on Interstate 15. The LVCVA estimated that traffic on all major highways was up by 0.9 percent.

Conventions brought 375,000 people to town in June. The LVCVA report indicated that was a result of shows that rotate in and out of Las Vegas. InfoComm and Cisco Live were not in town in June, lowering convention attendance by a total of nearly 50,000 people.