Las Vegas tourism has reached near pre-pandemic figures now that international travel has increased. Tourism officials said they are optimistic levels will continue to rise into next year.
During the month of August, Las Vegas welcomed almost 3.2 million visitors, a 6% increase when compared to 2021’s corresponding month. However, those figures were down 11% when compared to August 2019.
Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority President and CEO Steve Hill credited the rise in international travel to Vegas’ recovery and said the city is doing well.
He commented: “From a domestic standpoint, we’re over-recovered. We’re not all the way recovered internationally, but that’s largely because of the slow recovery in Asia.”
Travel has been on the rise this year, due to a larger number of vaccinated people throughout the US, which is good news for Las Vegas. Tourism officials project visitation figures could reach close to 42 million for the year, which comes close to pre-pandemic levels.
As of August, close to 25.2 million travelers paid Las Vegas a visit. Officials are confident the remaining months will yield previous tourist averages.
Harry Reid International Airport, which serves the Las Vegas Valley, has welcomed 34 million passengers this year to date and reported an all-time high in travel during a three-month span ranging from June to August.
Harry Reid International Director of Aviation Rosemary Vassiliadis said it is likely air travel numbers for this year can come close to those reported in 2019.
She said: “We may get very close to what we had in 2019 at the end of this calendar year, but I believe next year, with more recovery going on, is going to be a big growth year for our town.
“From an aviation standpoint, there were a lot of aircrafts that were taken out of service once the pandemic hit, and a lot of those will be back in service [next year]. It’s not easy to put an aircraft back in service.”
