Las Vegas ended 2025 with 38.5 million visitors, a decline of 7.5% from 2024. The drop amounted to about 3.1 million fewer trips. It was the sharpest annual decline outside the pandemic since visitor records began in 1970.
Room prices eased by 5%, yet the average daily rate remained $183.52 before resort fees, parking, meals and drinks. The Strip collected about $8.8 billion in gaming revenue for the year, while many leisure travelers were deciding that the total cost no longer matched the experience.
The price of getting through the door
A Las Vegas room can appear affordable at the booking stage, with headline rates such as $120 or $150 a night. The final bill can add resort fees, parking charges, service fees and destination fees. These costs apply across much of the Strip, leaving travelers with few comparable options once they have planned the trip around a particular resort or event.
A $28 breakfast and a $22 poolside cocktail make each day more expensive, especially for a family staying several nights. A 5% annual rate cut did little to restore the old sense that Las Vegas offered an accessible escape.
Spirit Airlines' 2024 bankruptcy removed multiple budget routes into the city. The loss of low-cost flights came as resort fees and other charges were rising. A family that once found an $89 fare each way from Cincinnati lost one of the cheapest ways to reach the destination.
RevPAR, or revenue per available room, was $158.62 in 2025, down 8.8% year over year. Both RevPAR and the $183.52 average daily rate still ranked as the third-best annual figures in Las Vegas history.
Fewer visitors, stronger spending at the top
The decline in visitor numbers did not produce an equal collapse in casino revenue. Strip gaming revenue reached about $8.8 billion in 2025, almost unchanged from the previous year. Nevada gaming revenue approached $15.8 billion, a fifth consecutive annual record.
Strip gaming held near $8.8 billion with 3.1 million fewer visitors, so the remaining guests spent more per head. That model leaves the city exposed if value-oriented travelers stop coming and higher-spending customers become less reliable.
Gaming performance varied during the year. December 2025 Strip gaming win was $827.73 million, down 6.07% from the previous December. July Strip gaming revenue reached $749.1 million, up 5.6% year over year.
Conventions provide another source of support. Attendance held roughly flat at 6 million in 2025, but that remained 10% below the 2019 record of 6.6 million. In January 2026, convention attendance rose 6.9% year over year to 672,100, even as total visitation fell 2.2% and Strip gaming win dropped approximately 11%. Business delegates can fill hotel rooms without replacing the wider spending pattern of leisure tourists.
The international and human cost
Canadian demand weakened sharply in 2025. Air Canada passenger counts to Las Vegas were down 33% in June 2025 from a year earlier. Separate mid-2025 figures cited for WestJet, Air Canada and Flair Airlines showed declines of 33%, 31% and 62%, respectively, across a different period.
MGM CEO Bill Hornbuckle said international visitation had become a challenge and that Canadian visitation remained low. Caesars CEO Tom Reeg said, "International business, particularly from Canada, is weaker." The industry cited trade tensions, a stronger dollar and changing policy conditions.
International guests often stay longer and spend across hotels, restaurants, shows and casinos. A Canadian couple staying 5 nights on the Strip has a different economic impact from a domestic visitor who drives from Southern California, stays for 36 hours and leaves. When visitor volume falls, the effect reaches the service workers who depend on steady foot traffic, including members of Culinary Workers Union Local 226, which has 60,000 members.
Events can fill weekends
Las Vegas is relying heavily on its 2026 events calendar. ConExpo-Con/Agg, WrestleMania 42, the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix and UFC International Fight Week are expected to bring large crowds on specific dates. Steve Hill, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, said convention demand remained steady and that the destination adapted in real time.
Large events can fill hotels and casino floors for a few days. They do not automatically repair the everyday value problem facing families and other leisure travelers. The Monday after a major event still depends on ordinary visitors deciding that the room, fees, food and entertainment are worth the total price.
Las Vegas still has 30 major casino resorts, the largest convention center in the nation and decades of brand recognition. Its next test is whether those assets can bring back the broad market that produced its visitor volume, including the American middle-class traveler who once returned year after year.
The timeline
- 2019Las Vegas recorded 42.5 million visitors, its pre-pandemic peak.
- 2020Annual visitation fell to 19 million during the pandemic.
- 2021Visitor numbers recovered to 32.2 million.
- 2024Las Vegas reached 41.6 million visitors, the post-pandemic high before the 2025 decline.
- Aug. 14, 2025Reporting on the Canadian pullback cited a 33% year-over-year decline in Air Canada passengers to Las Vegas in June.
- Jan. 28-29, 2026Reports citing LVCVA data confirmed that 2025 visitation fell 7.5% to 38.5 million.
What the video leaves out
The research adds two figures that put the room market in longer perspective. RevPAR, or revenue per available room, was $158.62 in 2025, down 8.8% year over year. Both RevPAR and the $183.52 average daily rate still ranked as the third-best annual figures in Las Vegas history.
Gaming performance varied during the year. December 2025 Strip gaming win was $827.73 million, down 6.07% from the previous December, while July Strip gaming revenue reached $749.1 million, up 5.6% year over year. The contrast shows how uneven the market became across individual months.
