Tourism dips in Las Vegas as visitors tighten budgets ahead of Fourth of July
Tourism dips in Las Vegas as visitors tighten budgets ahead of Fourth of July
Just a day before celebrating America’s 249th birthday, many visitors have already begun flocking to the Las Vegas valley.
Several visitors making a pit stop in Primm, NV, about 40 miles from Las Vegas, telling News 3, this holiday, they're holding their purse strings just a little bit tighter, but when it comes to celebrating a holiday like the Fourth of July, the iconic Las Vegas strip never fails to see a spike in visitors.
It’s always fun to be here. So, we are booked up at Fontainebleau this time. So, just going to try it out. I heard good things about it,” said California visitor, Uppinder Babbar.
“It’s just a leisure trip for us, I brought some money to blow, and going to have fun,” added.
John Foley, who was also traveling from California.
Despite eager visitors, the latest data from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority from May shows a 6.5 % decrease in tourism when compared to the same time last year.
“Things are very expensive these days for sure, and who knows how our economy is where it is headed,” Babbar added.
Some of those visitors say that economic impact has left them exercising more caution when it comes to planning trips or celebrations like Independence Day.
“We are trying to be a little more cautious, but like I said, when we are out of the house when we are traveling, we try to have more fun as much as possible, I guess,” Babbar said.
May data from Clark County’s Department of Aviation also shows a slight decrease in flyers visiting. Numbers show a 3.9 % decrease compared to 2024 when records showed nearly 5.2 million travelers.
“People are looking at everything going on in the world, and they're just kind of apprehensive about everything. Nobody really feels like celebrating when you see so much just stuff going on,” Foley added.
Despite the decrease, some frequent visitors say they’re optimistic, saying what they get from Las Vegas and its surrounding areas is something they say is incomparable.
“It’s more fun than anything I can do, even downtown Vegas, there is stuff I never did in my whole life. It's been so many years since I've been to Vegas, had my first ever alcohol in Vegas, I had my first ever real gamble in Vegas, and it's just much more fun. It makes me happy,” added another California traveler.
