Las Vegas has been cannibalizing itself for years, long before Trump returned to office. Beloved hotels were torn down in favor of soulless glass towers, free parking vanished, resort fees skyrocketed, and even basic conveniences like an empty fridge were removed unless you paid… pic.twitter.com/Hhj9qGRUSX

— 🇺🇸Lionel🇺🇸 (@LionelMedia) August 3, 2025

Every city has its own ups and downs. Over the last few weeks/months Twitter/Youtube verse have been posting headlines like this.


Probably three things at play IMO.....

1) Private equity/corporate greed ruining the experience (finance/accounting execs not hospitality execs)

2) the average American consumer is tapped out

3) Younger generations tastes are completely different than older generations.

Vegas used to be about the gambling. Food was cheap, rooms were cheap. They wanted you in the casinos. Then it changed to a resort/convention town. There are lots of those.

Plus, the Biden economy wrecked people's finances. Money has been tight. Places like Vegas are expendable to most of us.

i went to Vegas for the bowl game, i was shocked how little of the casino floor was devoted to gambling. it's a shopping/show destination now

Vegas sucks.

And let's me add- lots of america sucks to visit because they're trying to squeeze every last ounce of blood from their tourist turnips.

I just got back from 10 days in Colorado. We ate out once. Its just too damn expensive. In fact, the only thing we did that required paying someone was go to a national park and getting a fishing liscense. I hardly spent any money in the town we're practically part time residents of.

Tourism across the US as a whole is down. The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), the global body representing the Travel & Tourism private sector, announced in May its latest Economic Impact Research which found that the U.S. is on track to lose $12.5B in international visitor spending this year.

I think it's interesting that OP didn't list Trump as any of the potential reasons for tourist decline amongst Las Vegas or anywhere in general. The significant decline in visitors from Canada is particularly costly, as Canadian tourists made up roughly one-quarter of all foreign travelers who came to the United States in 2024, according to the U.S. National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO). Last year, Canadians spent $20.5 billion. In May, Canadian visitations dropped by 38% by car and 24% by air compared to the same month in 2024. It was the fifth consecutive month of steepening year-over-year declines, following double-digit drops in April and March.

I think it's fair to speculate whether Trump's antagonistic actions towards our neighbors to the North have directly impacted the willingness of Canadians to cross the border for leisure.

Quote:

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It's one of the slower / slowest times of year for Vegas with a death of conventions, sports, and it's hot as balls.

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thats why the relevant comparison is to the previous year for that month. I haven't seen july yet, but june was down 10%.

I do think its not as bad as media is pushing, but there are issues to be sure. one article I saw pins it in large part on california residents not traveling to vegas as much. the economy there really is in shamble, not to mention the fires, etc.

if you look online right now, a room at the Wynn is $899. same for bellagio. $559 at fountainbleu.

So the high end hotels sure aren't needing to beg people to come at this point.

Are you serious, Jack? Canadians who hate Trump are normally half of Vegas visitors. Sure.

Don't care if any Canadians ever come here again. Bunch of socialist leeches!

how come none of the geniuses brought up the most important point-

why go to Las Vegas when you can gamble on everything from your own HOME COMPUTER NOW?!?

BQ78 said:

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Are you serious, Jack? Canadians who hate Trump are normally half of Vegas visitors. Sure.

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At places like Excalibur or even New York New York, the number of Canadians is even higher. Usually arrived on Spirit Airlines.

In a post COVID economy, no one has patience for being charged up the ass like Vegas does now. In the old days, the unspoken agreement was we're coming to this place to blow money on gambling, so incentives to do so were the great prices in rooms, drinks and food.

Been to Vegas in the past three years? It's almost impossible to buy any kind of meal for a single person for under $30, a beer is over $15 pretty much anywhere, rooms are off the chart. Walking into a sportsbook and grabbing a seat? Forget it. You'll need to buy $100 worth of food and booze for that privilege. And charging for parking now? Blow me!

Vegas has gone the way of so many industries the past few years: jack up the prices to an insane amount and hope enough wealthy people pay in to go higher than the old days. But Vegas is dead for normal people at this point. It was a nice run.

The Canuck economy is in the s#itter right now, so that may be the reason the Canadians aren't showing up. It has nothing to do with Trump. Do thousands of conservatives refuse to go to London because it has a Socialist mayor?

LMCane said:

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how come none of the geniuses brought up the most important point-

why go to Las Vegas when you can gamble on everything from your own HOME COMPUTER NOW?!?

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The blow is much better in Vegas. And choking hookers in your living room with pictures of your kids on the wall just isn't the same as a sleazy way off the strip motel room......

Quote:

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Been to Vegas in the past three years? It's almost impossible to buy any kind of meal for a single person for under $30, a beer is over $15 pretty much anywhere, rooms are off the chart. Walking into a sportsbook and grabbing a seat? Forget it. You'll need to buy $100 worth of food and booze for that privilege. And charging for parking now? Blow me!

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The price on that last one has also gone up exponentially. I heard.

Years ago, you could find great deals on the Strip. Now, everything is outrageous, and that doesn't include gambling losses. I can travel to many other locations that I'll enjoy more for less money.

Krombopulos Michael said:

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LMCane said:

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how come none of the geniuses brought up the most important point-

why go to Las Vegas when you can gamble on everything from your own HOME COMPUTER NOW?!?

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The blow is much better in Vegas. And choking hookers in your living room with pictures of your kids on the wall just isn't the same as a sleazy way off the strip motel room......

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The man has a point.

EMY92 said:

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Years ago, you could find great deals on the Strip. Now, everything is outrageous, and that doesn't include gambling losses. I can travel to many other locations that I'll enjoy more for less money.

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Yep. Agree 10,000%

Sydney Sweeney Blue Jean Burlesque show will bring people back.

2000AgPhD said:

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The Canuck economy is in the s#itter right now, so that may be the reason the Canadians aren't showing up. It has nothing to do with Trump. Do thousands of conservatives refuse to go to London because it has a Socialist mayor?

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LOL I am actually considering NOT going to London because it's a haven for Hamas terrorists.

so yes.

Hullabaloonatic said:

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Tourism across the US as a whole is down. The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), the global body representing the Travel & Tourism private sector, announced in May its latest Economic Impact Research which found that the U.S. is on track to lose $12.5B in international visitor spending this year.

I think it's interesting that OP didn't list Trump as any of the potential reasons for tourist decline amongst Las Vegas or anywhere in general. The significant decline in visitors from Canada is particularly costly, as Canadian tourists made up roughly one-quarter of all foreign travelers who came to the United States in 2024, according to the U.S. National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO). Last year, Canadians spent $20.5 billion. In May, Canadian visitations dropped by 38% by car and 24% by air compared to the same month in 2024. It was the fifth consecutive month of steepening year-over-year declines, following double-digit drops in April and March.

I think it's fair to speculate whether Trump's antagonistic actions towards our neighbors to the North have directly impacted the willingness of Canadians to cross the border for leisure.

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In 2023 there were 1.4 million tourists from Canada visit Las Vegas.
Open Jaw

I get the REEEEEE TRUMP!!!!! from the TDS'ers, so, anything bad is Trump's fault to them.

But Vegas in 2023 had a total of over 40 million. The Canada tourists numbers are round off to the Vegas economy. Even if there were ZERO tourists coming from Canada, that would be a whopping 3.5% reduction in tourists visiting Las Vegas.

The decline in tourists in Las Vegas has nothing to do with Trump. I would say nice try, but, well, it's not.

I feel like the monetization of every aspect of everything is making travel less and less affordable for everyone, everywhere.

Canada is in a recession. They've had back to back contraction of quarterly GDP. That has a lot to do with it.

Vegas has turned into one giant carnival cruise ship filled with Spirit airlines passengers.

Went to Las Vegas this March with friends for the first weekend of March Madness.

The last time I'd been was pre-covid.

All of us were stunned at how much more expensive everything was - $15 for a cinnamon roll, $8 for a cup of coffee, $28 for a hamburger. $250 for a show ticket. It was ridiculous.