There’s a lot of hand wringing over what’s wrong with Las Vegas, and the extent to which declining visitor numbers are a harbinger for economic recession – or simply reflecting a broken business model that has relied increasingly on high spenders and high fees, pricing traditional travelers out of the market.
Las Vegas airport has seen a real drop in passengers this summer, with each of the last four months down 5.7% – 6.4% compared to 2024. Clark County airport data shows the decline down in both domestic and international traffic. International arrivals fell 13.5% in September. The weak Japanese yen hurts a lot here. So does how limited U.S.-China air travel has been since the pandemic. And the U.K. economy hasn’t supported discretionary long haul outbound travel.
- U.K. arrivals were down 29% in 2024 versus pre-pandemic.
- Japan arrivals were down 53% in 2024 versus pre-pandemic.
- China arrivals were down 56% in 2024 versus pre-pandemic.
Canada and Mexico are the biggest sources of international visitors, though, and Mexico is up 5% while Canada down 2.1% (2025 may be more dramatic).
Total visitor volume is falling, and hotel room rates are coming down as a result.
| Month (2025) | Visitors | YoY Change (%) | Avg. Room Rate | Room Rate Change | Occupancy | Occupancy vs Prior Year |
| June | 3.095 M | -11.30% | 163.64 | -6.60% | 78.70% | -6.5 pts |
| July | 3.089 M | -12.00% | 154.76 | -3.40% | 76.10% | -7.6 pts |
| August | 3.172 M | -6.70% | 162.38 | -7.40% | 77.50% | -3.7 pts |
Meanwhile, though room rates have been falling with the decline in visitors, they’re still way up overall. Average room rates were $133 in 2019, and $193 in 2024. That’s up 46%. And that doesn’t include resort fees that run $45 – $75 per night (plus tax) at major Strip resorts. Then you get hit with the rest of the costs of being in Las Vegas like $26 bottles of water, $50 for charging your laptop in the room and $48 for a cheese pizza at a budget hotel on the strip:
@kristine_stone Normal people can’t afford Vegas any more. “Resort fees” and deposits that are more than the cost of a room, and then crap like this.
This was at @LuxorLV in July. ♂️♂️ pic.twitter.com/tWgVUhvWBQ— Nick LaBrie (@nicklabrie) October 15, 2025
It’s not even just resort fees anymore:
This is absolutely ridiculous Vegas resident shows that restaurants have started adding in small print at the bottom of their menus a “concession fee of 4.85%” to be added onto your total bill. This fee is for offsetting operational costs like rent, labor, or prime location… pic.twitter.com/FHYef3sYI3
— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) August 22, 2025
Enilria suggests that the decline in airline passengers is overblown because that really just reflects Spirit Airlines restructuring. Spirit schedule changes account for the full drop, and other airlines are holding steady (but not yet replacing Spirit’s capacity). In other words, Spirit cut capacity is a different story than “demand dried up.”
- Except that total visitor numbers have declined, not just air passengers
- And international arrivals have declined
Enilria also suggests that electric vehicles could be a problem, not just Spirit, and that this would help explain the decline in non-air visitors. A great deal of Las Vegas demand historically drove from California. Parking charges at Strip hotels didn’t help with this. But he suspects that EV charging congestion discourages drivers because “recharging in the desert has gotten very bad reviews from tourists waiting for hours to charge on weekends at sparse locations.”
And in fact average daily auto traffic at the I‑15 Nevada-California border was down 4.3% year-over-year in June, although it’s not clear this is EV drivers not making the trip.
Ultimately, Spirit’s downsizing hurts Las Vegas. But they’re downsizing because their price-sensitive passengers haven’t been paying up to go to Vegas. And other airlines haven’t stepped in to replace that capacity yet. They may still, though it’s notable that Alaska Airlines is exiting Los Angeles – Las Vegas too.
The One Big Beautiful Bill taxing gambling while new competition from Robinhood picking up sports gaming via Kalshi futures contracts creates huge new competition for in-person attractions that price people out. Las Vegas is facing a confluence of challenges – not just limited to Spirit’s bankruptcy.
It’s not a mystery. Since corporations took over from the mob, everything is controlled by the bean counters. It use to be things like very cheap or low cost buffets, rooms, free parking, no resort fees, etc. And those fees are ridiculously high.
The next filming location for the Death Wish reboot.
Vegas thought they could get away with all kinds of extra charges and that the public was either too stupid to notice or that the allure of Vegas was such that people would pay anything for the experience. They are learning that people were not as stupid as they thought.
Yes, Vegas has milked the cows to death.
It’s now the joke in the desert.
I’ve visited Vegas for a week every year since the late 80s. I made my last trip for a long time in September, and that was for only three days with free lodging from a Grand Vacations promo before 10 days in the Utah national parks. There was a time when the Vegas Strip catered to all levels in all categories….gaming, dining, hotels, but I don’ t see that now. Pricing is ridiculous. I don’t buy the “mob vs. corporation” as the primary reason for that. Vegas became more a cheap “tourist” destination than gambling destination because more states have casinos now than in the 80s. It is the decline in gambling, which subsidized room rates, buffets, etc. With loss of gambling profits, buffets and other cheap amenities had to stand on their own as a “profit center.” No more free painter caps from Circus Circus or free finger sandwiches from Slots-A-Fun. No ore quarter craps at Casino Royale or $1 blackjack on the Strip. Yes, casinos are making big profits, but they pay tax on it whereas the Mob “lost” some of those profits and so could return some back to subsidize buffets, etc. Now, there’s this math: my wife and I can fly RT to Vietnam, stay in a Han riverfront hotel in Da Nang’s “mainland” tourist district for 60 days for $90 a day ($40 a day is the airfare). We cannot do that in Las Vegas even though I can get a base room rate at Horseshoe of $10-$15 through Caesars Rewards. And, in Vietnam, no place on a restaurant credit card bill for a tip. And, no “service charge.” Last Vegas trip, I counted seven homeless sprawled on the Center Strip between Planet Hollywood and Horseshoe. Six weeks in Vietnam and I didn’t see one homeless person in the tourist areas. Adios Vegas and “xin chao” Vietnam and $3 bowls of beef Pho and $1 breakfast egg Bahn Mi with coffee combo.
Vegas is a “victim” of the same trend we’re seeing across the travel industry. It’s the wealthy who are profitable to travel companies, and not so much the middle class (or even upper middle class). Vegas is courting the wealthy, especially the subset referred to in gambling circles as “the whales.” This is probably a smart strategy on their part, given the travel trends. It is not a strategy that will lead to growing tourist numbers. The problem, though, is that Vegas is kind of geared to the mass market (like they have many of the largest hotels in the world). And you could argue you need a crowd to create “buzz.” I am sure if a hotel company thinks they can make more money with the riff-raff, you will start seeing reduced resort fees, cheaper hotel rooms and reasonably-priced buffets.
Forgot to include up to 3 hour waits to checkin at a KIOSK that wants to charge you $75 extra since you got there at 2:50pm and you are “early”.. only to have to stand in line again after 3 if you dont want to pay it
But, but… Gary… Zorkfest, December 5-7, 2025, at the M Resort in Las Vegas!
Disney is in the same situation — a modest family vacation now costs thousands and many are priced out. Now that average consumers are feeling the pinch, the sales are starting to get tight. If the AI bubble pops the stock market, Vegas AND Disney are really going to be hurting.
I haven’t been to Las Vegas in more than 10 years, and from everything I read, I don’t plan on going any time soon. Thanks for all the good feedback!
Agree with other comments. Went to Vegas every year for about 15 years. Started on the strip. Then moved some dates Downtown. Then all dates downtown. Then out… now we go to Reno where we can gamble, eat and drink and not be clowned or crowded. I might make it back to Vegas for a conference if I’m not footing the bill. Otherwise, hasta Vegas.
Pigs get hogs hogs get slaughtered
Now do Disney.
@ Gary — The real reason that Vegas tourism is down is vecause the place is a shithole.
They lost me by reducing the payout on Blackjack from 3:2 to 6:5. Vegas was built on 3:2 BJ….
@Larry David Bradley — The phrase is ‘pigs get fed, hogs get slaughtered.’ One of my favorites.
Vegas is gross. Just constant money scammers. Easy pass.
Now tell me why you keep gatekeeping my posts while some certain slow witted droll posters can sometimes make half the comments here with no filter? I get that this guy smashing refresh to always post first must make up half your clicks, but this is ridiculous. If you don’t want me visiting just tell me, and I’m gone.
@1990 in Southwestern Michigan they say pigs get fat hogs get butchered
There’s nothing Trump touches that he doesn’t F it up
Las Vegas used to be counter-culture, or “weird” as we like to say in Austin. Then corporate types and their bean counters came in and took over. Sucked the soul out of the place while sucking their visitors dry … nickel and timing every single little transaction. Where’s the fun in that?
Needed to a segment run for EOY to hit 1K and thought I’d make it a long weekend. Looked at FLL-LAS and FLL-LIS. But the time you cover airfare, lodging and food, LIS came out to be half the price AND I was able to use PointsPlus to upgrade to Polaris.
This is why people aren’t going to LAS. It’s become too expensive to do over and over when other good options exist.
The article is kind of funny.
It mentions casino pricing for on-strip casinos being too high, but doesn’t mention all the other casinos that still have free parking, cheap food, and low stakes games….. And…. Somehow the author totally skipped Trumps war on foreigners being the problem, especially the Canadians that used to be a big part of the crowd.
The author also doesn’t mention Trumps tariff wars. Many US citizens are having problems making ends meet, and are thinking that they will soon have to deal with the fall-out from Obamacare being cut out/down. That could cut down the visitors too.
The funniest part was blaming electric cars. Somehow, the electric cars are always a problem….. I am thinking they should also blame Biden!!! I am sure the author thinks its somehow his fault!!!!
Last visit was 3 years ago. Even the top hotels are scuzzy, and the prices are stupid. I’m done.
Everyone should boycott Las Vegas for at least 2 years, bring down the overall cost of living, home prices, hotels, etc. The place needs a complete reset to be a destination again. Everyone is trying to hustle money from you…. many simple don’t realize it. Very little it easy to figure out. Even the rideshare cars don’t have license tags on the front (only the back) – no such thing as basic customer service
Personally, I’ve never liked Las Vegas, but I have noticed that it is much cheaper to vacation in Europe than in much of the US.
Well said, King @Arthur. How is it in Camelot these days?
Even Bugsy Seigel is rolling over in his grave just like Walt Disney! It used to be that the casinos helped support the hotel and restaurants. Thus the average family could afford to visit. Not any more! Everything is a profit center. For Disney, Walt and Roy envisioned a family place. Now, like Las Vegas, the fools…er…we mean…our customers will enjoy paying out the a** for crappy food, long lines (Oh wait…you can pay even MORE to get at the front of the line!!) for two days of legalized bank robbery…YOUR BANK! Sadly, The Walt Disney Company is nothing like what Walt and Roy created. Las Vegas…even the notorious mobster Bugsy is shaking his head (wherever he is)
I keep seeing articles like this that make no sense whatsoever. If things were as bad as the writer projects, Las Vegas would have a 30-40% reduction in visitor count. Yet visitation is down 4-6%. I don’t call that significant at all.
Bill Carson: My Dad used to say that a percentage means nothing unless you put a dollar figure on it. You can’t go to a bank and say, “I’d like to borrow 10% please!”. 4% of a dollar is one amount. 4% of a billion dollars is a whole new ballgame. So in Las Vegas money…4% is a huge loss.
To paraphrase the city’s tourism slogan: Whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas… and more people than ever could care less.