LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Downtown Las Vegas tourism leaders said they believe concerns about a decline in tourism may be overstated, especially when it comes to downtown competing with the Strip for visitors.
Data from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority for 2025 shows a dip in tourism, according to remarks shared during a community discussion. The data also shows average revenue per available room decreased on both the Strip and downtown, down about 8% and 10%, respectively.
Downtown leaders point to competition and cost
Leaders from several downtown attractions spoke with the community about how tourism is affecting their businesses and what they see as the biggest challenges.
“It is difficult to compete with room rates when they’re much lower on the Strip than they used to be,” one speaker said. “So that would be the biggest challenge we’re seeing now.”
Jeff Victor with Circa Group said downtown has a smaller share of hotel rooms than the rest of Las Vegas but still draws a large share of visitors.
“There are 155,000 rooms in Las Vegas. Downtown only has about 5% of that, and yet, tracked through the LVCVA, we’re seeing over half of the visitation to Las Vegas comes downtown,” Victor said.
Walkability and history remain part of downtown’s appeal
Victor and other downtown leaders said the cost of attractions across Las Vegas is affecting how tourists view the overall expense of a trip.
“When you come in, you get a cheap room, but it’s $1,000 to go see the Backstreet Boys at the Sphere,” Victor said. “Your perception is, wow, that was an expensive trip. It might be amazing, but it was an expensive trip.”
Leaders said downtown continues to rely on its atmosphere to draw visitors. One speaker said downtown offers something the Strip cannot replicate.
“We actually have something that the Strip can’t have. We have history,” the speaker said. “You can’t manufacture 85 years of history and so, that’s what we got going for us.”
A major part of downtown’s appeal remains the Fremont Street Experience. Victor said visitors spend about 3 1/2 hours on Fremont Street and visit at least three properties during that time, which he said highlights downtown’s walkability.
Victor also said about 15% of visitation on Fremont Street comes from Las Vegas locals.
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