Vegas Strip Cashes In on July Visitors While Downtown Struggles

^{The view from the Platinum Floors at Circa may be brighter than the outlook for other hotels in downtown Las Vegas. (Photos: Vanessa Alves-Johnson / Casinos.com)}

The summer travel season in Las Vegas started on a positive note, with 3.17 million people visiting Las Vegas in July. Gaming revenue on the Vegas Strip was up 3.64%, with solid table game results.

Statewide, Nevada gaming revenue was up 2.07% to $1.38 billion. Slot machines generated more than twice as much revenue as table games for the month, but rose just 0.60%, while table games were up 5.35% in the state.

While overall visitation was up for the month, the number of passengers at Harry Reid International Airport fell 7.57%, according to the airport’s monthly passenger report. Domestic traffic dropped 8.7% from last year, while international passenger counts rose for the second consecutive month.

Vegas Strip gambling revenue increased thanks to a healthy bump in table games, including blackjack and mini-baccarat. Downtown Las Vegas, meanwhile, saw a steep dip in slot machine revenue.

Vegas Visitation Jumps, While Room Rates Stay Put On The Strip

Las Vegas visitation continues to alternate between positive and negative. June visitation fell slightly despite a huge uptick in convention attendees, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. July was the opposite.

Overall visitation was up 2.7% to 3.17 million. However, convention attendees fell 5.6%, the first decrease since February.

So far this year, visitation to Las Vegas is up 0.5% from last year, a difference of 113,600 people, or about 16,228 per month.

Hotel business on the Strip stayed firm, with occupancy up a slight 1.1% to 77.2%. Despite fewer convention attendees, room rates in the area rose 1.7% to $167.40 per night.

People Are Skipping Downtown Hotels

Downtown Las Vegas hotel occupancy fell 4.5% to 58.5% in July. So far this year, downtown occupancy is off 3.8%, and July marked the fourth consecutive monthly decline.

Room rates fell just 0.3% to $87.41 per night. This was the third drop in downtown rates in the last four months.

Thanks to price increases earlier this year, downtown room rates are still up 57 cents compared to last year.

One data point that matters more to hotel operators than guests is how much revenue each room generates. That fell 7.4% in July, to $51.13. So far this year, revenue per room is down 5% from last year.

While hotels in the area as a whole are struggling, Circa debuted new luxury Platinum Floor rooms last week. Owner Derek Stevens remains optimistic about the future of downtown Las Vegas.

But things aren't going great on the casino floors at downtown casinos, either.

Downtown Vegas Casinos Destroyed By High Limit Slots

Vegas Strip casinos saw a 3.64% increase in gaming revenue, to $776 million in July, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board. This was the largest increase in Clark County.

As usual, baccarat generated the most overall revenue for these casinos. Its 2.29% increase, though, was dwarfed by a 46.86% jump from mini-baccarat.

Blackjack's 38.84% revenue increase was the only other traditional table game to post a big gain. Slot machine revenue at Strip-area casinos was up slightly, 1.71%, thanks to a 131.1% jump from nickel games.

The biggest dip in the county came downtown, where revenue fell 8.64% to $68.4 million. Slot machine revenue there fell 15% for the month. All denominations declined, but high-limit games took the biggest hit: $5 denomination games fell 93.86%, while the $25 denomination swung to a net loss, down 586.5% from a year ago.

That's worth watching going forward. The Plaza's new high-limit slots room opened this weekend. While these rooms can generate greater revenue, a few hot high rollers can flip the script on casinos.

International Visitation Rebound

Overall, airline passenger traffic continues to fall. The airport reported 4.4 million passengers in July, a 7.6% decline from last year. So far this year, the airport has seen 30.2 million passengers, down 6.9%.

Domestic travel fell 8.7% in July and is down 6.8% for the year. Some of the dip can be attributed to Spirit Airlines' bankruptcy, but Frontier Airlines is picking up much of the slack in the budget airline segment, posting a 35.8% jump in passengers in July.

International traffic at the airport rose 6% in July, driven by gains from airlines in Mexico and Canada. The airport saw 39,872 passengers from Mexico's Volaris Airlines, a 38.6% increase from a year ago.

Canada's East Coast-based Air Canada saw an 11.5% increase in passengers in July, while West Coast-based WestJet saw passenger counts fall 20.2%. The net increase in passengers from Canada in July was just over 5,000.

Despite the recent uptick in international passengers over the past two months, foreign passenger counts are still down 8.6% from 2025.

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