LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Las Vegas tourism has seen a slight decline in recent months, but officials at the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) remain optimistic about the industry's outlook.
Data from the LVCVA shows March visitation was down nearly 8% compared to last year, though convention attendance was up about 10%. February also saw a drop in visitors, though Las Vegas did host the Super Bowl last year.
WATCH: Joe Moeller talks to LVCVA CEO Steve Hill about tourism in Las Vegas
"We saw an 8% drop in visitation in March. Year to date, it's a little less than that, but the consumer confidence for the domestic customer has dropped pretty significantly over the past 3 or 4 months," said LVCVA CEO Steve Hill.
Hill points to economic uncertainties as a factor in the decline.
"It's the conversation around tariffs and what the cost of living might be for many. It is construction projects, for example. So we're seeing that concern manifest in people just kind of pausing. They're not real sure about how what they feel about their financial situation," said Hill.
Some international travelers in Las Vegas acknowledged economic concerns but said they weren't significantly deterred.
"We had a lot of our holiday booked before a lot of this happened," said one visitor.
"It did cross our mind, I wouldn't say it had a huge impact on our decision," said another tourist.
"It didn't directly, but it will over the next four years, that is for sure," a third visitor noted.
Despite the March decline in visitors, Hill pointed out that revenue per available room remained steady.
"You'll see that visitation is down in March, but our revenue per available room in March was flat from last year," said Hill.
Interestingly, the decline has been most pronounced among domestic travelers.
"The biggest decline has been the US, other than Canada. Canada is a little bit slower than the US. Overseas, we've not seen a drop in visitation," said Hill.
Nevada's gaming industry saw a statewide drop of about 1% in March, but Hill cautions against reading too much into one month's data.
"Numbers didn't move enough to be really indicative of a trend. Downtown is up a little bit, the strip was down about 5%, state was down a little bit. And it's just one month," said Hill.
Hill emphasized that fluctuations in tourism numbers were once common.
"What we're looking at right now, we think, is just a downturn in business for a period of time. Used to be a pretty normal thing. It does not mean that the public should extrapolate that into being COVID-like or Great Recession-like. We do not see that right now. There's no evidence that it'll turn into something like that," said Hill.
The LVCVA plans to increase marketing efforts to address the dip in visitors.
"We're gonna add money to our marketing budget to invest in making sure that Las Vegas is top of mind for everybody out there, make sure that people realize that there are offerings here that they can afford on any budget," said Hill.
Looking ahead, Hill expects a busy convention year in 2026, with a strong slate of shows already booked.
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