Las Vegas sees more hotel rooms go dark as tourism slump drags on but it’s only part of the picture

Sin City is still going through its years-long post-pandemic tourism slump, with cheaper hotel rooms still failing to lure enough visitors back.

The number of Las Vegas visitors fell to 3.03 million in August, a 4.3% decline from last year. That’s also 136,700 fewer visitors than in July. Similarly, airport passenger counts fell 9% year over year.

That’s despite the average daily rate for a Las Vegas hotel room falling to $150.32 in August, about $7 less than in July.

Occupancy rates were 3.4% lower compared to last year, at just 74.1%. Weekends saw higher occupancy, at 85%, but during the week, only 69% of rooms were filled. As a result, revenue per available room fell to just over $111, also down from July.

In 2025, LVCVA’s chief executive Steve Hill hit back against complaints from tourists about the city’s high prices for food and hotels.

“The idea that generally Las Vegas is not a value, that it is overpriced, I don’t think our customers are doing math when they are concerned about a specific issue,” Hill said.

“They’re expressing concern about that specific topic, that tends to then move into a narrative around Las Vegas is expensive or Las Vegas is not a value, but if you actually do the math on that, that’s not accurate.”

In a recent address to the Nevada Economic Forum, Hill pointed to rising jet fuel and gasoline prices as reasons for the sagging numbers.

And there’s politics to consider, too. Visitors from Canada, the city’s largest source of international tourism, have dropped 30% since 2019, according to Hill.

“It is a big portion of what’s missing in Las Vegas here right now,” he said.

Still, there are signs of a rebound. According to new data released by travel provider Priceline, Sin City topped a list of most searched destinations, year-over-year, last month.

Gaming revenues have also remained strong. Nevada casinos won about $1.27 billion in August, a 3.1% improvement over last year.

“Nevada continued to record gaming win amounts in excess of pre-pandemic levels this month. Statewide total win was 32.8% or $312.4 million over August 2019,” Shelley Newell, senior economic analyst for the Gaming Control Board, said.

“August 2026 represents the 66th consecutive month that the State has recorded $1.0 billion in monthly gaming win.”

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