Las Vegas Visitation Decline Narrows to 2.2% in January 2026
Las Vegas welcomed 3.26 million visitors in January 2026, marking a 2.2% year-over-year decline, the smallest drop the city has recorded in over a year.
Las Vegas is showing early signs of stabilization. After a turbulent 2025, the city recorded its smallest year-over-year decline in visitation in over a year this past January. Many Vegas execs looked at the dwindling numbers and called it nothing to worry about. However, key metrics still point to ongoing challenges heading into the spring.
A Slow but Meaningful Recovery
Las Vegas welcomed 3.26 million visitors in January 2026. That represents a 2.2% drop compared to January 2025, when the city drew 3.34 million visitors. In addition, it marks a 3.5% decline from January 2024’s figure of 3.38 million.
While the numbers are still down, the trend is moving in the right direction. Throughout much of 2025, the city faced visitation declines ranging from 6% to as high as 12%. As a result, January’s comparatively modest dip signals meaningful progress.
Conventions Provide a Notable Boost
One of the clearest bright spots in January was convention attendance. The city hosted CES, the World of Concrete, and the SHOT Show, drawing a combined 672,100 convention attendees. That figure represents a nearly 7% increase over January 2025.
CES alone attracted 148,000 attendees. Meanwhile, the World of Concrete brought in 58,000 visitors and the SHOT Show drew 53,000. Strong convention business has consistently served as a stabilizing force for Las Vegas during periods of softer leisure travel.
Hotel Occupancy Shows Mixed Results
Overall hotel occupancy came in at 79.5% in January, down 2.4 percentage points from the prior year. However, the figure actually improved compared to January 2024, when occupancy stood at 78.9%.
Strip occupancy landed at 82.9%, down from 85% in January 2025 but above the 81.7% recorded in January 2024. Downtown occupancy told a more difficult story, falling to 64.2% from 71.3% a year ago.
Weekend occupancy reached 83.1%, compared to 85.6% in January 2025. Midweek occupancy was 77.5%, down from 80.1%.
Room Rates Rise on the Strip
Despite softer occupancy figures, room rates on the Strip continued to climb. The average daily rate reached $216 in January, up from $201 in January 2025 and $204 in January 2024.
Revenue per room on the Strip also improved, rising to $179 from $171 a year ago. That figure stood at $167 in January 2024, indicating sustained upward momentum in rate performance even as foot traffic remains under pressure.
Downtown told a different story. The average daily rate was $100, consistent with January 2024, though revenue per room slipped to $64 from $68 a year ago.
Drive-In Traffic Still Soft
Visitor traffic from neighboring states showed modest declines. Vehicle crossings between California and Nevada fell 1% in January. Traffic between Nevada and Arizona dropped 3% over the same period.
Drive-in visitors represent a significant portion of Las Vegas’s overall visitation base. As a result, continued softness in those corridors remains a factor to watch as the city builds on January’s momentum.
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