Las Vegas Tourism Surge Continues

Las Vegas is continuing its remarkably quick tourism comeback from the pandemic, as the latest numbers from August prove.

But not all visitors are pleased with the rising cost of hotel room rates.

People again flocked to Vegas during the month of August, as the city welcomed almost 3.2 million tourists, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. That's up 6.4 percent year-over-year compared to August of 2021. Conventions were a big part of that as 406,500 people attending conventions and trade shows descended on Las Vegas in August, up 20.5 percent from August of last year.

However, while the entertainment mecca continues to make great strides, tourism is down 10.5 percent overall - convention attendance was down 38.2 percent - from August of 2019, the last full year prior to the pandemic and the barometer that the travel community uses to compare its comeback with.

Hotel occupancy was 76.8 percent with the average room rate at $148.09 a night - and that seems a little too much for some visitors. The increase in tourists has led to an increase in rates.

"It's really, really expensive," one tourist told 8 News Now. "The prices went up crazy," fellow tourist Francisco Aguayo said.

The broadcast network noted that at one point late last month, room rates at Circus Circus Hotel - an off-the-Strip property that is considered to have reasonable room rates - were at $331 per night. At sister properties Wynn and Encore, located on the Strip, rooms were being booked at $1,000 a night.

"They raise when demand is high," Jonathan Fine, owner of Fine Entertainment Management said. "And they lower their rates when supply is high."

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