Las Vegas visitation continues downward spiral in August
Visitation to Las Vegas continued its downward spiral in August with 3.2 million visitors, a 6.7 percent drop from a year earlier, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported Friday.
Figures were down in every major tourism category — except gross gaming revenue — in August. The downturn wasn’t as steep as July’s 12 percent decline in visitation.
Convention attendance was off 8 percent, the hotel occupancy rate declined by 3.7 percentage points to 77.5 percent and the average daily room rate fell 7.4 percent to $162.38 a night.
The report was issued on the last day of the LVCVA’s first-ever five-day citywide “Fabulous Escape” sale that began Monday. Hotel rooms, restaurants and city attractions were discounted by as much as half off during the sale.
Airport slide
Traffic through Harry Reid International Airport continued its slide in August. The Clark County Department of Aviation on Wednesday said passenger counts lagged by 8.5 percent to 4.5 million. Much of the downturn was blamed on major declines for Spirit Airlines, operating in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the No. 2 commercial carrier that has now slid to No. 3.
The summer months, normally a robust period for leisure travelers, were down by double-digit percentages in June and July.
Kevin Bagger, vice president of the LVCVA research center, said convention attendance also was off in August, primarily because of a shift in the timing of the World Market Center summer show, which drew 38,000 attendees who were tallied in July instead of August.
Defying trends
While visitation was down, casino gaming win continued to defy those trends.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board said earlier Friday that statewide win climbed 5.5 percent to $1.23 billion, while Clark County was up 5.3 percent to $1 billion for the month.
Strip gaming win was up 5.5 percent to $679.4 million, while downtown Las Vegas revenue was up 8.3 percent to $63.2 million.
August was the 54th straight month that gaming win exceeded $1 billion.
Gaming industry experts said a combination of factors led to the higher-than-expected win total.
All but one of the eight Southern Nevada submarkets were up from August 2024, with Laughlin scoring a 10.8 percent increase to $36.3 million to lead by percentage.
The Boulder Strip and Mesquite each increased by more than 9 percent with the only down market being outlying Clark County, off 0.9 percent to $142.4 million. That market includes southwest Las Vegas and the Durango property that has set monthly records and presented a tough comparison to beat.
Shelley Newell, senior economic analyst with the Gaming Control Board’s Administration Division, said the big increase in Elko County was likely due to the earlier-than-normal Labor Day weekend, which included two days in August.
“The Labor Day Weekend always helps licensees as do all three-day holiday weekends,” Newell said. “In August, the Elko County Fairgrounds also held its annual county races and rodeo. So, ideally there would be more traffic and people passing through those neighboring areas as they head out to attend those races and rodeo events that were held at the fairgrounds.”
Barry Jonas, a gaming industry analyst with Atlanta-based Truist Securities, said casinos also had the advantage of an extra Sunday in August compared with last year.
Laughlin, Mesquite capitalize
Two rural, value destinations marketed by the LVCVA had improved visitation performance in August.
Bagger said visitation was up 14.5 percent to 134,000 in Laughlin and up 11.5 percent to 68,000 in Mesquite. Laughlin’s occupancy rate rose 2.3 percentage points to 53.7 percent, and the average daily room rate was $69.68, up 0.3 percent from a year ago.
In Mesquite, the occupancy rate dipped 3 percentage points to 61.7 percent, while average daily room rate soared 22.3 percent to $88.49 a night.
Laughlin, nestled along the Colorado River at the southern tip of Nevada, is a haven for water sports on the river, while Mesquite, a little over an hour northeast of Las Vegas on Interstate 15 at the Nevada-Arizona border, is a golf mecca with several quality courses.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.