Las Vegas International Travel Drops 19% as Baccarat Revenue Plunges 44%

^{International passengers at Harry Reid International Airport fell by almost 20% in January, contributing to weaker Strip gaming revenue and a sharp decline in baccarat play. (Photo: courtesy of Harry Reid International Airport)}

It sounds redundant, but business in Las Vegas during the first month of 2026 mirrors the previous year. Visitation and gaming revenue fell again.

The most significant declines were a 19.2% drop in international passengers at Harry Reid International Airport and a 44.69% decline in baccarat revenue. 

That tells part of the story, but not all of it. While overall visitation declined, convention attendance rose. That allowed hotel operators to push higher room rates and generate more revenue per room.

Visitation from American travelers declined modestly, while overseas arrivals dropped sharply. International high rollers are typically the lifeblood of baccarat revenue, which could explain why earnings from the game plunged, dragging down overall Strip gaming revenue.

While most of the numbers look weak, Strip casino operators don't appear overly concerned about the decline, as they’re projecting 2026 business travel to be on the upswing. In 2024, hotel rooms accounted for 34% of total Strip casino revenue. Gaming made up just 26.1%.

Conventions Boost Room Rates While Slowing Visitation Decline

Visitation to Las Vegas in January fell 2.2% to 3.26 million, which was the smallest decrease in the past year.

Las Vegas hosted three large conventions in January, boosting business travel by 6.9%. Attendance for CES, the largest of the three, increased nearly 7% to 148,000. World of Concrete and the SHOT Show brought another 111,000 attendees.

The average daily room rate in January rose 6.7% to $200.15. Strip hotel rates climbed 7.2% to an average of $215.96 per night, and revenue per available room on the Strip increased 4.5%.

Despite more than 55,000 international attendees at CES, Harry Reid International Airport reported a 19.2% decline in international passenger traffic. Canadian visitation fell sharply, with passenger traffic on Air Canada and WestJet declining by 34.2% and 27.9%, respectively. The sharp decline in Canadian visitation has already prompted some downtown casino operators to treat Canadian dollars as equivalent to American dollars.

By comparison, domestic travel fell 6.2%. American Airlines carried 7% fewer passengers, while Delta, Frontier, Southwest, and United all reported year-over-year increases.

Auto traffic to Las Vegas was nearly flat, with a 1% decrease from California and a 3% decline from Arizona.

Baccarat Drop Deals Major Blow to Strip Revenue

Strip casinos recorded the largest gaming revenue decline of any district in Nevada. Revenue along the main tourist corridor fell 11% to $747.7 million.

Downtown Las Vegas, Boulder Highway, Henderson, and most other Clark County markets all posted smaller declines between 3% and 7%.

As usual, baccarat was the top revenue generator on the Strip. Casinos won $118 million from the game, but that was 44.69% lower than a year earlier.

Overall, table game revenue declined 25%. Excluding baccarat, other table games generated $193.1 million, a modest 4% decrease.

Blackjack and craps were bright spots, each posting a 12% increase.

The silver lining with those numbers is that players had a particularly lucky month. The table games hold percentage was 13.1%, compared with 18.9% last year. Baccarat was even more volatile, with casinos holding 13% compared with 26.9% a year earlier. Results will likely improve if those hold percentages normalize next year.

While table games favored players, slot machines delivered positive results for casinos. Slot revenue totaled $436 million, up 2.75%.