LAS VEGAS—The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority got the best news they could have hoped for with the release of its 2023 Visitor Profile Study this month.
According to surveys conducted for the 52-page report, travelers to Las Vegas still find it a bargain destination compared with other places they may be inclined to visit.
While many locals are fed up with paying for things they didn’t pay for in the past—parking comes to mind—and the so-called “junk fees” that President Joe Biden has vowed to eliminate—resort fees come to mind—those surveyed for the LVCVA’s annual report continue to arrive in near-record numbers.
They continue to spend more than ever and gamble record amounts.
Not only that, they seem happy with their trips here, and many felt the destination exceeded their expectations.
Visitors are Younger
Las Vegas visitors are younger than they’ve been historically and are spending more on lodging, food, shopping, entertainment and gambling when they come.It’s a more diverse crowd that’s here than ever before.
“The key question—and this is the first thing I jump to every year—is visitor satisfaction,” Kevin Bagger, the vice president of the LVCVA’s Research Center, told the LVCVA board at a meeting Tuesday. “I want to know that our visitors are having a good time. Is there anything that’s making them go in the wrong direction?”
Historically, the dissatisfied come in at under five percent, an indication that they are happy enough to keep coming back. Uber drivers I’ve spoken to anecdotally say resort fees are what rile them up the most.
Deeper in the report, surveyors asked specific questions about why people were dissatisfied with their stay. At the top of the list, with 19 percent of the 112 people asked (the number who said they were dissatisfied) was “too expensive.”
That was followed by “hotel complaints” 18 percent, “Las Vegas is too dirty with too many homeless people” 17 percent, “too crowded” nine percent, “gambling complaints” seven percent, “too hard to get around” seven percent, “trip was too short” five percent, and “too much going on/too intense” two percent. A total of 17 percent had “other” complaints.
Among the activities visitors participated in—and how much money was spent on those activities—everything was on the rise except attending a show.
The report showed for food and beverage, from 2022 to 2023, the amount spent went from $527.13 to $570.15 per trip among all travelers, among those who spent something per category.
Entertainment Spending Drops
The one category that showed a drop was for shows and entertainment, in which per-trip spending fell from $309.76 to $278.44.Entertainment includes many activities, the LVCVA said. The study found that 57 percent attended a production show, up from 54 a year earlier; a headliner act 21 percent, down from 25 percent; magic shows, comedy acts and impersonator tribute shows stood at 14 percent, six percent and two percent, respectively; while nightclubs and DJ shows fell from four percent to two percent; and Broadway shows, from two percent to one percent.
Attending a sporting event—which includes parents in town to watch their children or friends play in tournaments—held at six percent from 2022 to 2023.
Measuring gambling is a little tricky when it comes to surveys. Visitors were asked what their gambling budget was, not how much they bet or put into machines. The LVCVA figures they may get a more truthful answer with that question.
Gambling questions show where the age of the visitor comes into play.
Overall, 79 percent said they gambled while here compared with 75 percent a year earlier. They played an average 2.4 hours compared with 2.6 hours in 2022 and had a gambling budget of $787.54 compared with $761.22.
Survey results showed baby boomers budgeted $969 compared with $1,110 a year earlier, Generation X budgeted $850 compared with $845, millennials budgeted $747 compared with $669, while Generation Z took $396 to gamble compared with $517 a year earlier.
Bagger indicated it’s clear some of the younger visitors to Las Vegas are finding other things to spend their money on when here.
