Southern Nevada’s tourism industry experienced a year of strong growth in 2022, with many key metrics reaching post-pandemic highs. While the industry still trailed many 2019 benchmarks, the gains made last year and the trends early in 2023 have brought a full-scale recovery within sight.
According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, visitor volume reached 40.4 million in March 2023 on a trailing 12-month basis, a 13.6 percent increase compared with March 2022. The latest number was within 5.6 percent of the pre-pandemic high in February 2020. Convention attendance also made strong gains over the year, but its recovery has not been as robust compared to broader leisure visitation. In March 2023, convention attendance reached 5.7 million during the past 12 months, a 68.9 percent increase from March 2022. This marked the highest attendance level since March 2020, when the pandemic halted conventions and other large in-person gatherings. Despite the gains in convention activity over the past year, it remained 14.7 percent lower than in February 2020.
A key driver of the tourism rebound during the past year has been sourced to a number of special events, high-profile concerts and a strong mix of professional sporting events. The Harry Reid International Airport has been a source of travel for a significant number of visitors; passenger counts have more than recovered from their pandemic-era lows. March 2023 set a monthly record with 4.9 million passengers, bringing the trailing 12-month total to an all-time high of 55.4 million. That total exceeded the pre-pandemic high in February 2020 by over 3 million, or 6.5 percent. Meanwhile, average daily auto traffic on Interstate 15 at the California border also exceeded pre-pandemic values at 45,524 (trailing 12-month average) by 1.6 percent. However, this was down 5.9 percent from March 2022.
Hotel occupancy rates reached 90.5 percent on the Las Vegas Strip in March 2023 and 88.3 percent across Southern Nevada. Both were post-pandemic highs, though they remained about 3 percentage points below pre-pandemic levels. The average daily room rate in Southern Nevada climbed to its highest level of all time in March 2023 at $213.25, a 30.7 percent increase over March 2022 and a 59.2 percent increase over March 2019. The prior monthly record was the $209.89 set in October 2022, which was the first time the average daily room rate exceeded $200.
Gaming revenue in Clark County in March 2023 totaled of $13.1 billion on a 12-month basis, which was 6.0 percent higher than a year earlier and 25.8 percent higher than the February 2020 value of $10.4 billion. The growth was fueled by 11 straight months of gaming revenue exceeding $1 billion. The Las Vegas Strip reached $8.5 billion in gaming revenue over the 12 months through March 2023, a 9.0 percent annual increase compared to a 6.0 percent annual increase for Southern Nevada as a whole. In downtown Las Vegas, gross gaming revenues were the highest of all time in March 2023, reaching $903.4 million on a trailing 12-month basis.
The momentum in Southern Nevada’s tourism industry through 2022 and into 2023 appears poised to continue in the months ahead. There are over 600 events scheduled for 2023, including concerts by Beyoncé and U2 and Las Vegas’ first ever Formula 1 race. Meanwhile, the $3.1 billion Fontainebleau, the Durango Casino and Resort and the MSG Sphere, a first-of-its-kind 18,000-seat entertainment hall, highlight the new resorts and amenities scheduled to open later this year to support further expansion of the region’s critical tourism industry.
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