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!
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!
Pigs get hogs hogs get slaughtered