Las Vegas visitation falls 12% in July as gambling revenue increases

The number of people coming to Las Vegas fell sharply last month, but the decline did not impact the gambling revenue won by Strip and downtown casinos, which was up compared with last year.

Visitation to Las Vegas declined 12 percent year-over-year in July, according to figures released Friday by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. The day before, airport data showed passenger traffic at Harry Reid International Airport had declined for the sixth straight month.

Visitor volume last month was nearly 3.1 million, down from 3.5 million in July 2024, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. Year to date, visitor volume is down 8 percent compared with 2024, from 24.6 million to 22.6 million.

LVCVA President and CEO Steve Hill said that casino and tourism officials remain bullish on Las Vegas.

“I’m going to bet on Vegas,” Hill said Friday during a news conference. “We’re all confident in the future of this city. We’re going through a downturn, and we’re not happy to be going through a downturn.”

International tourism remains a soft spot for Las Vegas. Year to date, Canadian airline traffic is down 18 percent year over year. Conversely, flights coming from Mexico and the United Kingdom are both up 9 percent.

Hotel occupancy of 76.1 percent in July was down 7.6 percent, and the average daily room rate went down from $160 last year to $155 this year. Through July, the LVCVA reports Las Vegas hotel occupancy is at 81.1 percent, which is the highest in the U.S.

While travel to Southern Nevada traditionally slows down during the summer months, 2025 has been uniquely impacted by a variety of factors, including politics, consumer frustration about nickel-and-diming and a growing perception that the value of a Las Vegas vacation is disappearing.

The positive news for Las Vegas came earlier Friday, when the Nevada Gaming Control Board released data showing a 4 percent statewide increase in gambling revenue in July.

According to the NGCB, Nevada’s nonrestricted gaming licensees reported a total win of $1.36 billion last month.

“Our gaming revenue is really hanging in there pretty strongly, and so not following the visitation drop, which is great,” Hill said Friday afternoon. “It matters to all the properties, and it matters, obviously, from a tax base perspective. It’s one of the two largest tax producers for Nevada. So that’s good news for everyone.”

Casinos on the Las Vegas Strip generated more than $749 million in July, a year-over-year increase of 5.6 percent. A 79 percent increase in baccarat win compared with July 2024 helped fuel the Strip’s second-highest monthly win total this year, trailing only the $840 million reported in January.

Downtown Las Vegas casinos posted a 3.6 percent uptick in monthly gaming revenue, bringing in more than $74.4 million from gamblers.

Clark County as a whole reported more than $1.15 billion in gaming revenue in July, a 3.2 percent increase over July 2024.

Year-to-date gaming revenue is up for Nevada and the Strip, 0.93 percent and 0.16 percent, respectively.

July was the second consecutive month in which statewide gambling revenue went up over 2024, while the number of people coming to Las Vegas went down.

An earlier version of this story incorrectly noted the percentage change in visitation from Mexico and the U.K.

Contact David Danzis at ddanzis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0378. Follow @AC2Vegas_Danzis on X.