Las Vegas Lures 40.8M Visitors in 2023, Best Mark Since 2019

Posted on: January 25, 2024, 12:31h. 

Last updated on: February 3, 2024, 12:57h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

Las Vegas bustled in 2023 as more than 40.8 million people traveled to Southern Nevada.

Las Vegas visitor arrivals Nevada
Tourists brave the heat on a Las Vegas Strip pedestrian overpass on June 29, 2023. Las Vegas welcomed nearly 41 million visitors last year. (Image: Las Vegas Review-Journal)

The 2023 visitation number represented a 5.2% year-over-year increase and the city’s best mark since pre-pandemic 2019 when the casino town drew 42.5 million visitors. Convention attendance soared 20% to about six million visitors.

The all-time high for annual visitors came in 2016 when 42.9 million people ventured to Las Vegas.

Calling 2023 “an epic year,” Steve Hill, the CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), said the return of major conventions paired with premier events like the inaugural Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix powered the visitor haul.

Las Vegas will set another annual gaming revenue record when the Nevada Gaming Control Board reveals December and full-year 2023 results this week.

Through 11 months, statewide gross gaming revenue (GGR) was more than $14 billion, just shy of the $14.84 billion state casinos won in 2022. Clark County, home to Las Vegas and the Strip, won about $12.8 billion in 2022.

Record Room Rates

Business travelers and well-to-do visitors who came for F1 and other major events, such as NFL football allowed Strip casinos to substantially increase their hotel room rates.

The city’s 154,662 guest rooms went for an average nightly rate of $191.29. That represents a nearly 12% surge from 2022 and set a new rate record. Strip rooms averaged more than $204 a night, a new high.

Revenue per available room, a measure of room profitability, jumped almost 19% on the Strip to $176. Citywide room RevPAR climbed 18% to $160.

Las Vegas rooms were occupied 79% of the time, 4% higher than in the previous year. Weekend occupancy climbed 1.4% to 90.7%, while midweek benefited from the return of conventions. Midweek occupancy was up almost 6% to 80.3%.

Harry Reid International Airport will soon unveil its December and full-year passenger traffic numbers. Las Vegas’ main airport was exceedingly busy last year.

Through November, the airport served more than 52.8 million arriving and departing passengers, a 9.4% year-over-year improvement. International traffic soared 28%, while domestic travel climbed almost 9%.

2024 Headwinds

Unemployment remains low, and the stock market continues to enrich savings accounts. However, there are concerns about consumer spending in the year ahead. Inflation and credit card debt are two paramount issues facing consumer liquidity and the overall health of the U.S. economy.

While the Las Vegas Strip and downtown casinos rely primarily on visitors for their gaming and resort business, local’ casinos in Clark County cater to residents. And those residents are facing higher rents and mortgages, as Southern Nevada remains a preferred destination for Californians to relocate to.

Nevadans are also facing some of the highest grocery costs in the nation. HelpAdvisor, an online resource dedicated to assisting consumers in receiving federal and state benefits, reports that Nevada has the second-highest grocery cost, behind only California.

The average household in Nevada spends about $298 a week on groceries. That’s about $40 higher than the national average. Wisconsin is home to the cheapest groceries at $221 a week.

HelpAdvisor calculates its groceries cost based on the Household Pulse Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.