There’s one way to make up for lost tourism dollars with questions about the economy, the anti-USA sentiment sweeping across the world due to Donald Trump’s policies and tariffs, and Las Vegas is doing it.
That is to simply raise room rates for hotels.
According to a monthly report from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority released the end of May, tourism dropped 5.1% in April from that time last year, yet Las Vegas Strip hotels are taking in 4% more revenue per available room (RevPAR) a year ago. Average daily rates were up 4.5% on the Strip at $203.17, an increase of $8.75. Downtown, rates were 4.7% higher than last year, hitting $100.87, up $4.55.
This is despite fewer tourists going to Las Vegas. For the year, about 900,000 fewer people have visited Las Vegas this year compared to 2024 levels, according to the LVCVA. That’s a difference of about 6.5%.
People are already complaining about the “resort fees” hotels charge, plus decades-old freebies disappearing such as free parking and unlimited free drinks while you gamble (now it’s loosely based on how long you gamble and how much you spend) and now hotel rates are rising when visitors are down.
Of course, if there is any place that can get away with this strategy, at least in the short term, it’s Las Vegas. It thrives on conventions and events. It just hosted Wrestlemania and the Electric Daisy Carnival as just two examples.
But where Vegas hotels had better be careful is with the “everyday” recreational tourists who are not there because their company sent them to attend a convention or to attend a once-a-year event. It’s those “weekend warriors” who keep the slot machines dinging and the nightclubs and daylife pool parties lively. If the rooms are deemed too expensive then they either won’t go to Vegas, will go somewhere else or will simply rethink their plans.
How much are hotel rooms in Vegas? I just did an Internet search for a weekend in June, Friday and Saturday nights, and the least expensive room on the Strip showed $184 a night at Planet Hollywood and $348/night at the Venetian, with most places falling in the $250/night range. Those prices do now include all fees.
Still, the idea of a “cheap Vegas getaway” seems to have gone the way of the Dunes.
The LVCVA’s cited “consumer uncertainty with evolving federal policies” as a factor in the decline in the number of tourists. And we all know what that means and it’s likely to get worse before it gets better.
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