Visitation in Southern Nevada has slid to a halt following a post-pandemic climb, according to a report by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) reported the weakest monthly total footfall since February.
The 3.2 million visitors in August was 6.4% higher than August 2021, but still 10.9% behind totals reported in August 2019, according to data released by the LVCVA. Much of the decline could be placed on convention visitation, which was down 38.2% from August 2019’s numbers (which reported 657,800 show attendees).
Similar patterns emerged among most comparable tourism indicators.
J.P Morgan gaming industry analyst, Joe Greff, commented: “Relative to 2019, August average daily auto traffic was 5.3% lower at Interstate 15 at the Nevada-California border. Total air passengers recorded was 4.64 million, down 5% sequentially.”
LVCVA VP of research Kevin Bagger noted that hotel occupancy had gone down by 10.9% compared with August 2019. He commented: “Surpassing 90% for the sixth straight month, weekend occupancy reached 90.1%, down 5.1 points from August 2019, while midweek occupancy came in at 72.2%, down 11.9 points from August 2019.”
However, there is hope for Southern Nevada tourism, as can be seen with Las Vegas’ continuing popularity as a host for huge sporting events, such as Formula 1. Last month, F1 opened up a pre-registration ticketing portal and demand for the event has been rampant.
The Las Vegas Grand Prix, taking place along the famous Strip, is set to go ahead on November 16-17. Strip casinos are set to cash out on this event, with MGM Resorts selling a single ticket for $20-$25m, which will encompass a ticket package deal for the event.
