LAS VEGAS — The top tourism official in Las Vegas says the city hasn’t priced out regular travelers, even as July visitor counts fell and casinos took in more from gamblers.
Steve Hill, CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), said monthly figures can bounce around but argued the destination remains competitive at different price points.
“We’re not happy with the downturn but the city’s taking steps to address that,” Hill told reporters Friday.
People will make their own anecdotal gripes about Vegas, but the real reason is the Trump administration’s insane border and trade policies driving away international visitors as they fear getting arbitrarily detained or they actively boycott the US.
Not to mention targeting a lot of the help… no idea why attendance would drop.
Not to mention that people can’t afford anything because tariffs.
This is it. My brother lives in Vegas and I’ve visited plenty of times and spent time walking the strip in the last couple months.
Way less people from other countries these days compared to last year. You can hear it when walking around town, now it’s just English and Spanish.
Spanish? Which ones?
— ICE
Relax, they’re white, it’s Spanish from spain
Even so.
– ICE
Definitely. I have international friends, we used to meet up in Vegas periodically because it was cheap/easy for me and somewhere they could go to do all the shopping, eating, etc. they wanted.
They aren’t doing that right now. And I don’t blame them.
people might as well go to disney at this point lol.
I mean the guys already managed to bankrupt a casino in the past, so he’s just added the challenge of trying to bankrupt the whole consortium now!
Back in 2015, Warren Buffett was being interviewed by CNBC about the possibility of a Donald Trump win.
He kind of laughed at that notion, and the interviewer said “Why are you laughing? He’s a businessman like you”
Warren Buffett goes: “Every business he’s ever had, he’s run into the ground”
Then the reporter says: “Well, he’s currently leading the polls and slated to win”
I remember Buffett just kind of leaning back in silence, realizing what he said, understanding that the business Donald Trump “would be running” was the United States.
Buffet: (I need to diversify with foreign assets)
vegas has actually been dying for quite some time, and way before trump, trump and covid just accelerated everything. vegas was expensive even before the pandemic.
Annual visitation took a dip during Covid and afterwards but largely recovered as recently as 2024. Pre-Covid visitation was roughly 42+ million/ year. In 2024, there were 41+ million visitors. I think it’s true that prices have gone up, but haven’t seen any data. I’m not convinced that the expense is the driver of this trend though… possibly a brewing recession, but the biggest difference from last year is US policy.