Las Vegas, home to one of the largest entertainment and hospitality industry metro areas, has seen an unprecedented drop in tourism numbers. Over 850,000 visitors arrived in June—with the city hosting approximately 3.1 million total visitors at that time. That’s an 11% decrease from the same month last year in 2024. This slump is not exclusive to domestic travelers, with U.S. international traffic down by a staggering 13%.
In addition, the pandemic has hit the tourism sector especially hard, with hotel occupancy rates crashing. As a result, they dropped by approximately 15 percent over this period. A big part of this story though is the continuing free fall of the Canadian visitor count. This country has been recognized as Nevada’s top ranked international market. Mayor Shelley Berkley underscored the point when I was there, noting that Canadian tourism has dried up from “a waterfall” to “a drip.”
Recent airline data indicates a sharp reduction in passengers arriving from Canada to Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. In fact, Air Canada saw a 33% decrease in the number of passengers traveling in June as compared to 2019. In a related story, WestJet announced a 31% drop over the same period. Travel agents across Canada have noted a marked downturn in clients expressing interest in visiting the U.S. and Las Vegas.
The tourism industry has seen a temporary surge since COVID. This recent downturn has sent local leaders and industry experts across the nation into a panic about the stability of this recovery. Ted Pappageorge, head of the Culinary Workers Union, referred to the trend as the “Trump slump.” He thinks that political considerations are influencing Americans’ travel choices.
Guest blogger travel agent Wendy Hart let her ideas flow on this topic. She went on to declare, “Politics, without a doubt,” the top reason for the lack of enthusiasm among future travelers. She added to those concerns by stressing that tariffs are adding to increasing costs which could scare away travelers.
Aside from political machinations, increasing costs in the booming city have sparked a major fight. Local attractions operator Jim Arnold takes aim at the influx of high-price, high-end restaurants and resorts. He fears this trend is “squeezing out the low-end tourist.” Arnold boasted that his attractions will continue to be “recession-proof” with extensive free parking and free admission.
There’s no doubt Mayor Berkley wants visitors to return again and again to Las Vegas. She insists, first and foremost, that they have a good time, never feel gouged. “People are feeling that they’re getting nickeled and dimed, and they’re not getting value for their dollar,” she stated. Berkley continued, “That’s pretty much all we want. We don’t want them to move here, we want them to come and enjoy themselves, spend their dollars, and go home.”
For many visitors, these supposed inconveniences do little to sour on the amazing experiences Las Vegas has to offer. Alison Ferry remarked on the busy atmosphere during her visit: “It’s very busy. It has been busy everywhere that we’ve gone. And really, really hot.”
This is why industry leaders are watching these trends with a hawk’s eye. Las Vegas needs to respond to the new world economic order and the transformation of what visitors want. Jim Arnold suggested an approach of ignoring inflationary pressures altogether: “We’ve decided that our plan is just to ignore inflation and pretend it doesn’t exist.”
Other companies benefit when the economy falters by providing appealing pricing models. The rest need to rethink their approach to bringing in a more diverse set of visitors. Indeed Las Vegas is in stormy seas at the moment. We continue to be optimistic that as visitation comes back, so too will vibrancy return to the city’s world-famous hospitality industry.
