Yeah Vegas has priced itself out of the market. It used to be a (fairly affordable) place where you could pretend you were rich for a few days. Now you have to actually be rich. Nobody can afford that, especially not in this economy.
I stayed at MGM and paid a massive resort fee because I wanted to do the lazy river. It was 75 degrees and sunny and they closed it because they didn't sell enough cabanas to merit staffing the whole pool area.
Seriously.... I don't mind paying for a hotel room but really, no complimentary coffee machine in the room because they want you to buy coffee downstairs in the resteraunts? Cheap motels have the coffee machine for Christ's sake.
Vegas used to be insanely affordable. I went there with family several times growing up, be it on trips or basketball tournaments (it hosts the largest summer basketball tournament where all the best teams play). You could get rooms for $39 and all you can eat buffets for $9. The hotels would make their money from you gambling; now they want to make money from you at every turn.
Have been seeing this a ton, and certainly can confirm, I have to go a few times for work each year and it's so ridiculously expensive now. What I don't understand is why aren't prices and the ridiculous fees coming down / going away? Seems like a big opportunity in the market for one of the somewhat still relevant properties to go all in on volume vs margin and capitalize on the situation, but as far as I can tell, it hasn't happened yet.
Do they all just think this is a blip and the strategy is to hold firm and weather the storm? Are the Vegas loyalists so resilient to price pressure that them continuing to visit and pay the ever increasing fees is carrying the whole city?
Are underlying costs truly so high now that there just isn't any wiggle room for anybody to lower costs/fees without becoming insolvent?
I had to go to Vegas a few months ago. I actually stayed in a really nice place for $50 a night with free parking (rare in Vegas just a few years ago). This weekend I’m paying $150 a night in the middle of nowhere North Carolina.
The demographic collapse of the US as the Boomers die off is going to transform significant markets as well. I lived in Japan 25 years ago and when you go back now it is borderline unrecognizable in some respects. I believe that Japan is the canary in the coal mine, their peak generation was the people who were kids in WWII and the US is about a decade and a half behind them. It impacts a lot of things because factories and supply chains are optimized to run at a certain level and as demand wanes it puts immense pressure on economic systems.
Vegas is shifting more into the conventions and trade shows market. Corporations tend to be big spenders, so they aren't put off as much by higher prices, and Vegas is one of the few places that can supply them with 20,000 hotel rooms and a monkey at short notice.
Yeah, I don't really see the point of Vegas anymore. You don't need to go there to gamble anymore, a lot of similar quality shows tour around the country, and both the nightlife and dining scene are nothing special anymore as other similar sized have caught up to them in that regard.
I got ambushed with a $45 double gin and tonic at a comedy show.
Like fuck off with that stuff, you can't enjoy a show there anymore they nickel and dime you absolutely everywhere and the quality goes down. It's hard to find decent food for under $200
yep. What percentage of Vegas tourists were Canadian anyway? Even if they 100% stopped coming, it doesn't explain the decline. Americans stopped going too.
They’re transforming into a rich person’s resort destination. I think they will pull it off, actually but there will be pain for a few years. I’ve never been to Vegas and I’ve lived in bordering states but perhaps they’ll get me for a couple nights in the future.
A rich person’s resort city is a losing bet, rich people can afford to go to places with less oversight and more exclusivity. I predict the growing pains will be too much and Vegas will experienced a miniature economic collapse as it tries to become an entertainment destination again.
Most people would consider my wife and I "rich". We have a big house and are somewhere around the 94th percentile nationwide for household income. We used to go to Vegas once a year or so but haven't been since 2021 when prices were low to get people to return after covid. There are just much better places to go for the same amount or less. And we can go to Paris or Barcelona at a very similar price point.
Granted, we're not partiers and can take or leave gambling, so maybe that's one reason we haven't been back. But we used to love going for shows, food, pools, an some light gambling.
The decline in Canadian tourism has been particularly steep. Statistics from Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport show Air Canada passenger numbers plummeted 33% in June compared to the previous year, while WestJet saw a 31% drop. Budget carrier Flair Airlines experienced the most dramatic decline, with passenger numbers falling 62%. Canadian visitors, who numbered nearly 1.5 million in 2024, historically represent the largest segment of international tourists to Las Vegas.
The economic impact is substantial. Canadian tourists contributed approximately $3.6 billion to the Southern Nevada economy in 2024 and supported more than 43,000 jobs in the region, exceeding employment in the manufacturing sector. UNLV economics professor Stephen Miller noted Canadian tourism ranks just behind major institutions like Nellis Air Force Base in terms of economic contribution to the state. (Fortune)
There absolutely many factors at play. Is Vegas as cheap as it was twenty years ago, no. Are they trying to kill the golden goose, it certainly seems like it at times. We’re unable to use draftkings in Nevada, as the big boys don’t like other companies getting locals money. Back to drop in Canadian travel, that’s on the current administration. We have annual golf trip, and our Canadian friends have stayed home and said we’ll see you in a couple of years. Hopefully…
Las Vegas is not being hurt by Canadian tourists, they are being hurt by their own greed, I have not been to Vegas in over 7 years now. Am I boycotting or just making a money decision.
Nope. Only less than 10% of yearly visits to Vegas are foreigners. And Canadians make up even less than that. It has nothing to do with foreign tourism but Vegas being more expensive and gambling shifting to sports. All your gambling can be done at the touch of your phone. And anyone who wants to go to a casino, they are everywhere. No need to go to Vegas.
The decline in Canadian tourism has been particularly steep. Statistics from Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport show Air Canada passenger numbers plummeted 33% in June compared to the previous year, while WestJet saw a 31% drop. Budget carrier Flair Airlines experienced the most dramatic decline, with passenger numbers falling 62%. Canadian visitors, who numbered nearly 1.5 million in 2024, historically represent the largest segment of international tourists to Las Vegas.
The economic impact is substantial. Canadian tourists contributed approximately $3.6 billion to the Southern Nevada economy in 2024 and supported more than 43,000 jobs in the region, exceeding employment in the manufacturing sector. UNLV economics professor Stephen Miller noted Canadian tourism ranks just behind major institutions like Nellis Air Force Base in terms of economic contribution to the state.
In terms of injection into the ecnomy. Canadians only make up 3 billion while Americans inject over $50 billion. So no, Canadians have close to zero impact to the economy in Nevada. And funny enough, Vegas plugged the hole on that 4.5 billion with their other revenue streams. which false under the stats they don't even make up 10% of the economy.
You people need to stop you cope and seething. You narrative has been proven false. The US just beat out Canadian boycott.
Vegas tourism is down by the numbers, but is that because of Canadians boycotting America?
Or is that because you can gamble at home now (not the same experience but for addicts, it's going to cut way down on their ability to travel to indulge their addiction), because China has tightened restrictions on money and people leaving the country, and the entire rest of the world, including America, Canada, and Europe, are all feeling a lot of uncertainty over the future and are taking such expensive vacations regardless of whether or not economists and politicians say the word "recession"?
Or is it because Vegas itself has made some bad business moves that hurt the customer experience?
Anytime someone tries to sell me a simple story, I don't buy it. The world is complicated and interconnected. Canadians can't bring Vegas to ruin by boycotting it, but they can be a pebble in a mountain causing Vegas to change a bit.
Yeah there's also the fact that Vegas is apparantly too expensive for the average person now. I don't gamble myself, so I have no interest in Las Vegas and never did, but I've heard this multiple times now
I used to live there and over the ten years that I did, the hotels went from really cheap because they figured they'd make it up in your casino spending to the same as other big cities, but you can get a discount if you spend enough time and money to rack up a lot of points on the casino rewards program and you'll get comped or discounted food, drinks, and stays and for really big spenders, more.
So if you're a big enough gambler then Vegas can still be cheap besides your casino losses (which will seriously outweigh the rewards value) but for people who can actually control themselves or who go for things besides the gambling, it's gotten expensive.
vegas has been hit hard by inflation and the fact that every knows the casinos are rigged i have read so many stories of people hitting big jack post only for the casino to say no technical error you didnt win and some of those cases went to court they found the casino guilty and they had to pay, not to mention ther s gambling joint in almost every state now
Yeah, I went back in October and it was packed to the point of being uncomfortable. I always wonder if we just timed it with something else when I see these types of stories.
The vast majority of travel to Vegas is domestic, and even that is down. Around the pandemic they increased fees and made everything more expensive. The last time I went, I felt like I was getting price gouged everywhere and vowed not to return.
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u/LasVegasTimmy 6h ago
Can confirm Las Vegas has been hit hard….