Las Vegas closes books on 2025, visitation down 7.5%

An estimated 38.5 million visitors came to Las Vegas in 2025, the lowest total since the COVID-19 pandemic recovery year of 2021, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported Wednesday.

The total visitation was off 7.5 percent from a year ago and 11.4 percent less than the record 42.9 million visitors recorded in 2016.

December was the 12th straight month of visitation declines and the fourth-worst decline by percentage of 2025. For the month, there were 3.1 million visitors, a 9.2 percent decline from December 2024.

Most of the city’s visitation metrics were down in December with occupancy off 5.8 percentage points to 76.1 percent, and the average daily room rate down 5.1 percent to $183.87.

Harry Reid International Airport has yet to announce its December and 2025 passenger totals, but other indicators like Clark County gaming win and traffic on major highways leading to Las Vegas were down for the month.

One bright spot was December convention attendance of 306,000, up 9.6 percent from December 2024. But for the year, convention attendance was flat at 6 million, down 10 percent from 2019’s record 6.6 million.

Although the 2025 average daily room rate of $183.52 was down 5 percent from a year ago, and revenue per available room, a profitability performance metric, was down 8.8 percent for the year to $158.62, both of those metrics were the third-best in history according to the LVCVA.

Optimism for 2026

Despite the down year, LVCVA President and CEO Steve Hill said in perspective, Las Vegas fared well and, compared with other destinations, did fine.

“Las Vegas operates at a scale that few destinations can match, and 2025 required us to remain nimble as conditions evolved,” Hill said in an emailed statement. “Despite a challenging environment, convention demand remained steady, the events calendar remained strong, and the destination continued to adapt in real time.”

Hill frequently said through 2025 that faltering consumer confidence in the economy was behind the challenging year. That and sociopolitical events — specifically, President Donald Trump’s tariff policies and his remarks about turning Canada into the U.S.’s 51st state — kept many prospective international visitors on the sidelines in 2025.

But Hill remains optimistic about 2026’s outlook, listing several special events that should spur growth in visitation this year.

“Las Vegas remains a category of one,” Hill said. “Our focus will continue to be providing value to our visitors and delivering experiences that elevate our place as the leading leisure and business destination.”

The outlook for 2026 is supported by a robust convention, events and entertainment calendar. The Las Vegas Convention Center is on pace to host an estimated 1.2 million trade show attendees in 2026, up from 1 million in 2025, including the return of ConExpo-Con/Agg in March and several new and expanding shows. The Las Vegas Convention Center, which just completed a $600 million renovation, hosts roughly 20 percent of all Las Vegas conventioneers.

ConExpo, a construction industry trade show conducted once every three years, is likely to be one of the top three largest trade shows in Las Vegas by attendance in 2026.

Big events coming

Las Vegas also will host major global events throughout the year, including WrestleMania 42 in April, the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix in November, UFC International Fight Week in June and the National Finals Rodeo in December, alongside increased international travel tied to the 2026 World Cup and America’s 250th anniversary.

The LVCVA is counting on Las Vegas becoming an ideal viewing location for summer’s World Cup soccer tournament for those who cannot get or afford tickets to games at U.S. stadium sites. The World Cup event encountered some headwinds last week when former FIFA President Sepp Blatter called for a boycott of U.S. World Cup games in response to President Trump’s controversial behavior on the world stage. Most experts don’t expect a boycott to gain much traction, even though Germany has threated to pull its team from the event.

When 2026 comes to a close, Las Vegas also will be able to look forward to hosting its first-ever national college football championship game at Allegiant Stadium in January 2027.

Laughlin, Mesquite results

The LVCVA also markets the Southern Nevada cities of Laughlin and Mesquite, and the two destinations had mixed results in 2025.

Although the room inventory did not fluctuate in the Colorado River gambling town of Laughlin, visitation increased there by 7.3 percent to 1.4 million people in 2025.

Although occupancy in Laughlin fell 1 percentage point to 48 percent, the average daily room rate improved 2.7 percent to $62.13 a night. The number of passengers passing through Laughlin-Bullhead International Airport climbed 10 percent to 150,839 passengers, and gaming win was up 2.4 percent to $493.5 million for the year.

Golf mecca Mesquite, about 90 miles northeast of Las Vegas, was flat on visitation at 833,000, even as hotel inventory increased 16.8 percent to 1,821 rooms. Occupancy in Mesquite fell 5.6 percentage points to 67.6 percent, but the average daily room rate climbed 12.8 percent to $93.48 a night.

Gaming win was up 7.1 percent to $202.4 million and traffic on Interstate 15 at the Nevada-Arizona border, reflecting visitation from Utah, was up 3.3 percent to 31,776 daily vehicles.

The Nevada Department of Transportation does not differentiate visitors from local traffic.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.