Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

More tourists, less spending projected for big weekend

Bellagio fountains

Leila Navidi

Travelers ranked Las Vegas as the top destination for Memorial Day travel on various websites, but those who make the trip will be stingy.

By the numbers

3.8% — Expected increase in visitors this Memorial Day weekend compared with last year. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is projecting 304,000 visitors.

5.4% — Expected drop in economic impact this holiday weekend versus last year. More tourists will come, but they’ll likely spend less.

Las Vegas may rank as the top destination among Memorial Day travelers, and should see more visitors than it did this time last year — but it’s not going to have the kind of economic impact worth memorializing.

If the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is correct, the valley will see 3.8 percent more tourists this three-day weekend than it did in 2009, but the economic impact is expected to be 5.4 percent less than it was a year ago.

It’s the problem tourism executives have been struggling with since the recession hit. People are still coming to Las Vegas, but they either don’t have as much money to spend or are more tightfisted with it — and it looks like it will be no different this holiday weekend.

The visitors authority is projecting about 304,000 visitors will be in town for the holiday weekend that serves as the unofficial start of summer.

But the authority may be underestimating the crowd.

Travelers ranked Las Vegas as the top destination for Memorial Day on vacation booking websites Priceline, Orbitz and Southwest Vacations, primarily because of Strip hotels’ deeply discounted room rates.

The travel and ticketing website VEGAS.com, a sister company of the Las Vegas Sun, is estimating that based on bookings and inquiries, the number of visitors this weekend will be 15 percent greater than last year.

The bump might be attributed to the fact that this year, Memorial Day weekend coincides with UFC 114: Rampage vs. Evans and the UFC Fan Expo, which is expected to have 50,000 in attendance.

The problem is that even with an increase in visitor volume this year, hotel occupancy will actually dip to 93.5 percent from 94.7 percent in 2009, according to the authority. Kris Tibbs, its research manager, says the decline is a combination of the current economic climate and the increase of 8,000 hotel rooms in the valley during the last year.

VEGAS.com said the average daily room rate for this Memorial Day weekend has increased 3 percent. Memorial Day weekend room rates in 2009 were down 23 percent from 2008, according to VEGAS.com data.

MGM Mirage spokeswoman Yvette Monet said its rooms are going for slightly higher rates than last Memorial Day weekend. Last-minute rates at MGM Mirage properties range from $107 a night at the Excalibur to $379 a night at the Bellagio.

For Harrah’s Entertainment, the average daily room rate ranges from $142 at Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall to $400 at Ceasars Palace .

Other popular Las Vegas hotels’ room rates are $359 at Palazzo, $265 at Hard Rock and $322 at Palms.

Some good news for the gaming industry: AAA reported 28 percent of people in the Pacific region say they plan to gamble on their vacation and 16 percent in the Mountain region say they plan to do the same.

Nationally, AAA is predicting an increase in the number of people traveling for the Memorial Day holiday this year, the first increase since 2005.

In the Mountain region, which includes Nevada, 2.5 million people are expected to travel, a 7.6 percent increase from last year. The Pacific region, which includes Californians who drive to Las Vegas, will see a similar increase in travel this year, with about 5.13 million people traveling this weekend.

Sun reporter Kyle Hansen contributed to this story.

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