The number of Europeans visiting Las Vegas for leisure, business or a blending of the two has returned to pre-pandemic levels, even though they make up a smaller percentage than U.S. tourists.
Steve Hill, CEO and president of the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Bureau, said European visitor levels largely have recovered, faster than the historical average of tourists from Asian countries. He added there has been an increase in direct flights from Europe, either already available now or routes scheduled for 2024.
“Europe has had its economic ups and downs. We see that, but overseas currency values do not affect visitation to Las Vegas. We predict high single-digit percentage numbers going forwards,” he said, the percentage remark referring to how many of all visitors will be from Europe.
“We’ve recovered direct flights for the most part. There is backup in Gatwick [for Heathrow], and Manchester will return in June 2024. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will commence a direct flight from Amsterdam, too,” he said.
Hill said Europeans share the U.S. sentiment that Las Vegas is in a “category of one.”
“We have broadened why people want to visit,” he said.
Sports are a major part of that offering.
The Las Vegas Raiders American football team relocated to the city from Oakland in 2020 and will play at least nine games at Las Vegas’ 65,000-seat Allegiant Stadium during the 2023-2024 season. The Vegas Golden Knight ice hockey team, the first major sporting franchise to represent the city when they were founded in 2017, are the current Stanley Cup champions, the sport’s highest honor. There is also talk of professional baseball and basketball franchises coming to the city.
Perhaps of more interest to Europeans is the city’s attempt to lure high-profile soccer matches.
“Manchester United played Borussia Monchengladbach in a pre-season game in July, while the Real Madrid versus Barcelona match last year at the Allegiant Stadium was the single biggest grossing sports event the city has ever known,” Hill said. “The Allegiant hosts 50 events a year. 72% of people are interested in Vegas, 28% not, and the sports inclusion has allowed us to further pique the interest of this minority share.”
The city now annually hosts a Formula 1 race, which in 2022 had a weekend attendance of 440,000.
In addition to London, on his trip to the U.K., Hill visited Bournemouth, a small city on the south coast of England that has a team in the top league of English soccer.
Hill explained there is a Las Vegas connection there, with the team having been bought in 2022 by William Foley, the owner of Fidelity National Financial and the Vegas Golden Knights.
Upping Numbers
According to the U.S. Travel Association, as of May 2023, international arrivals to the U.S. lagged 2019 levels for the same period by 27% but accounted for 1.54 million arrivals, a 48.2% increase year over year.
The International Trade Association in April 2023 said international visitors to the U.S. spent $17.3 billion on travel, a 26% increase year over year. That increase was the 25th consecutive monthly rise in the statistic.
And according to the Clark County Department of Aviation, international arrivals to Las Vegas’s principal airport, Harry Reid International Airport, numbered 280,687 in June, a 12.4% increase from the same month in 2022. Airfares paid to U.S. carriers by international visitors totaled $3.1 billion in June, a 31% increase year over year.
“The number of European stays is the statistic that has gone up on a fiscal-year basis. Our resorts are back,” Hill said.
The Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority said in its midyear 2023 visitor profile snapshot that international travelers amount to 12% of the total visitor base, still down compared to 2019 levels of 14% but notably up from 2021 levels of 3% and midyear 2022 levels of 8%.
Hill said Las Vegas did not stop building during the pandemic.
“We increased our net meeting and event space from approximately 11.5 million square feet in 2019 to approximately 15 million square feet now. The goal for 2026 is to get 8.3 million group visitors and attendees,” he said.
“Average daily rate is higher now than it was in 2019, and there is a higher gaming budget per visitor. Also, the customer base is younger, and it is more diverse than we’ve ever seen. It was 47 years of age five or six years ago, and [in 2022] it is 41,” he added.
Las Vegas has approximately 150,000 hotel rooms, but Hill said to attract more Europeans and international guests, the city knows it must continually add attractions.
At the top of the list is The Sphere at the Venetian Resort, an 18,000-capacity music and entertainment arena that opens Sept. 29 with a 25-concert series from Irish rock band U2. If sold out, the combined attendance would be 450,000.
Resorts World opened during the pandemic, in June 2021, with 1,174 rooms, while Circa, with 700 rooms, is the first hotel opened in downtown Las Vegas in a decade.
“The Hard Rock has gone, but on its site the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas has opened, also in 2021 and with 1,504 rooms,” Hill said.
Up next in December is the 67-floor, 3,644-room Fontainebleau Las Vegas.
“That will only increase the room pool by 5%,” he said.
Hill said decisions, compromise and strategy are helped by the city having few ownership groups, especially compared with the number of rooms.
“MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment have a combined 40% of the rooms count. Las Vegas has about a dozen ownership groups, and even at the lowest points of the pandemic, there was only a slight decline in the city’s economics. Occupancy then was 88%. Now it is between 85% and 86%,” he said.