27-05-2025
Survey finds that a record number of visitors were back for more
Paul Szydelko
About 86% of visitors to Las Vegas in 2024 had been to the city before. That's a new high, according to the annual Las Vegas Visitor Profile released earlier this year, up significantly from prepandemic numbers. For example, in 2019, the last year before the pandemic, 76% were return visitors.
Repeat visitors were more likely than first-time visitors to say they were visiting friends/relatives (20% vs. 9%), came to gamble (7% vs. 4%) or to attend a special event (5% vs. 3%).
Most of those repeaters did not wait long in between their last visit and this one: 53% of repeat Las Vegas visitors said they had visited the city at least once over the past two years.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, sponsors of the survey, and its hospitality partners were no doubt heartened to hear the overwhelming percentage of 2024 visitors who were interviewed said they were satisfied with the experience: 87% said that they were "very satisfied" with their visit, while 10% said they were "somewhat satisfied." Only 2% of visitors were dissatisfied with their visit.
"We want our visitors to be thrilled with what we're doing, and that's what's going to cause them to keep coming back. So when we see those levels, it's comforting, but it takes a lot of work to keep it there," LVCVA Research Center director Kevin Bagger told the LVCVA board in a summary.
Those only "somewhat satisfied" with their visits were concerned about the cost: 18% said their biggest complaint was that Las Vegas was too expensive, up from 17% in 2023 and 14% in 2022. Others said their trip was too short (13%) or had complaints about their hotel (8%). Seven percent said it was too crowded, another 7% said is is too hard to get around. About 6% complained about gambling, and 6% said that it was too hot.
One finding that might be concerning to readers: Only about 4% of those polled said they used a travel advisor in planning their trip to Las Vegas. That's down pretty significantly from prepandemic levels (10% in 2019).
About 300 monthly in-person interviews were conducted, and about 150 monthly surveys were conducted online. In total, 5,418 interviews were completed in 2024.
Some other findings from the 50-page survey:
• Millennials (ages 28 to 43) represented the biggest chunk of visitors at 46%, followed by Gen X (ages 44 to 59) at 38%. Gen Z visitors (ages 21 to 27) represented 7% of Las Vegas visitors in 2024.
• More than half (52%) of all visitors made their way downtown, down from 58% in 2022 but still ahead of 42% in 2019.
• About 59% said they planned their trip more than a month in advance, while 55% said they booked their accommodations more than a month in advance, both figures up from past results.
• About 78% gambled during their stay, and the average trip gaming budget was $820.15, similar to last year but above 2019 to 2022 results.
• Almost 78% of those who stayed in a hotel booked online (up from 52% in 2019). Fewer visitors booked by calling the property directly (13%) compared to last year (18%).
