Happy with Las Vegas? Most visitors say they are, survey says

A new report says most visitors to Las Vegas say the city met or exceeded their expectations when they came.

But the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority’s 2024 Visitor Profile, released Tuesday, indicated a visitor’s level of satisfaction is dependent on their income level. Wealthier visitors were generally more satisfied with their stays than lower-income tourists.

LVCVA executives also are analyzing the possibility of lower tax revenue and are preparing for it.

The Visitor Profile, in its 50th year in 2024, was conducted with 300 monthly in-person interviews and around 150 monthly online surveys. In total, 5,418 interviews were conducted during the year.

The profile also said there are more repeat visitors that are spending more when they’re here, more higher-income visitors, but fewer 20-somethings and more millennials and Gen Xers visiting the city than in past years.

LVCVA Research Center Director Kevin Bagger summarized the 50-page report for the LVCVA board of directors.

For Bagger, the highlight of the survey each year is visitor perceptions.

“That’s where that visitor profile really starts for me each year,” Bagger said. “We want our visitors to be thrilled with what we’re doing, and that’s what’s going to cause them to keep coming back. So when we see those levels, it’s comforting, but it takes a lot of work to keep it there.”

LVCVA President and CEO Steve Hill said part of the purpose of the survey is to determine how best to market the city to potential visitors.

“We put out a lot of imagery and ads to say, ‘Hey, Vegas is great.’ And we have to be careful,” Hill said after the presentation. “We’re pretty close to it. We think Vegas is great, but do they think Vegas is great? And the profile definitely highlights, yeah, people are having a great time.”

New high in repeat visitors

In his summary, Bagger said around six in seven visitors had visited Las Vegas previously, reaching a new high. Nearly all visitors were satisfied with their visit and even more than in past years were likely to say that Las Vegas significantly exceeded their expectations. Visitors were more likely than in past years to plan and book their trip more than a month in advance. Spending continued to be strong in 2024, with significant increases from 2023 on spending for lodging, food and drink, and shopping among all visitors.

Satisfaction levels seem to have recovered from the hit taken when many of the major resorts began charging for parking.

Bagger said his team will analyze details of the report to find trends or aberrations over the years and recommend changes to encourage visitation positives.

Other highlights

Highly satisfied visitors: Nearly nine in 10 (87 percent) visitors to Las Vegas in 2024 said that they were “very satisfied” with their visit, while 10 percent said they were “somewhat satisfied.” Only 2 percent of visitors were dissatisfied with their visit.

“Too expensive.” The biggest complaint among those “somewhat satisfied” with their visits was the cost. The LVCVA said 18 percent cited their biggest complaint was that it was too expensive, up from 17 percent in 2023 and 14 percent in 2022. Other complaints were that the trip was too short (13 percent), hotel complaints (8 percent), too crowded (7 percent), too hard to get around (7 percent) gambling complaints (6 percent) and that it was too hot (6 percent).

Exceeding expectations: More than half of 2024 visitors (54 percent) said that Las Vegas exceeded their expectations, up from 48 percent last year.

Fewer people per room: The average number of people per room (2.2) was down slightly from 2.3 in 2023 but still up significantly from norms of two pre-pandemic. That’s an indication that more people are visiting without children.

Strong nongaming spend: Per-trip spending increased significantly among all visitors for lodging, food and drink and shopping.

Gaming remains strong: Four in five visitors gambled during their stay (78 percent), and the average trip gaming budget was $820.15, similar to last year and above 2019-2022 results.

Less time gambling: When the survey was first taken in 1975, visitors spent an average five hours a day gambling. That’s now down to 2½ hours a day.

Employed, well educated, high income: More visitors than last year were employed (86 percent), college graduates (47 percent) and earning $100,000 or more (64 percent). The average age of visitors in 2024 was 43.6 years old.

International Visits: One in eight visitors (12 percent) came from abroad, the same as last year, up from 9 percent in 2022, and well ahead of the pandemic low of 3 percent in 2021.

Downtown Continues to Draw: More than half (52 percent) of visitors included a visit to the downtown area of Las Vegas, down from 58 percent in 2022 but ahead of 42 percent in 2019.

Visitors Planning Trips Further in Advance: Nearly three in five visitors (59 percent) said they planned their trip more than a month in advance, while 55 percent said they booked their accommodations more than a month in advance, both up from past results.

Longer Trips: Visitors to Las Vegas in 2024 stayed an average of 3.4 nights and 4.4 days, up slightly from 3.3 nights and 4.3 days in 2023.

Hill said knowing how to best market to visitors will determine how to make budget decisions in May. Hill hinted that the organization is preparing for the possibility of a revenue shortfall, but that the LVCVA would be ready if the amount falls short of expectations.

He said uncertainty about international visits, particularly from Canada, and fears of a recession could drive lower volume.

“We’re seeing hesitation in booking from the lower end of the market,” Hill said. “Obviously, the markets are going down, which is kind of indicative of the potential of recession, which has been talked about, that often can be a little bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy, even if the underlying metrics aren’t there. And so that hesitancy right now is causing uncertainty. We’re not sure if people can move past that and we return to the booking patterns that we saw, or whether that’s going to have an actual impact.”

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