Las Vegas visitation continued its slide in September, falling nearly 9% year-over-year with 300,000 fewer visitors coming to the city, much of it midweek. On the weekends, big-time sporting events and entertainment drove people to the Strip.
Las Vegas welcomed 3.09 million visitors in September, down 8.6% from 3.38 million in September 2024, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. Weekend visitation was strong, as reflected by the hotel occupancy rate of 90.3%, down only slightly from 90.4% last year. But midweek occupancy of 74.4% took a toll on overall visitation numbers, down from 81.1% a year ago.
As evidenced by the midweek visitation, convention attendance at 428,400 fell nearly 100,000 or 19% year-over-year. It was hurt in part by a 45,000-member convention that comes once every four years and another for Oracle CloudWorld that shifted to October with its 30,000 attendees.
Convention attendance is expected to pick up in the fourth quarter and 2026 based on comments from hotel operators.
Hotel occupancy on the Strip in September was 81.3%, down from 87%. Downtown, it was 67.4%, down from 74.1%.
The event calendar helped bolster attendance on the weekends, led by Allegiant Stadium on Sept. 13th hosting the middleweight boxing championship between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford. The Raiders hosted a Monday Night Football game versus the Los Angeles Chargers on Sept. 15th.
Other top events during the month included Dolby Live at Park MGM hosting Bruno Mars September 3rd through the 6th and Motley Crue on various dates throughout September. The MSG Sphere hosted the Wizard of Oz all throughout September and also hosted the Eagles September 5th through the 13th. The Colosseum at Caesars Palace hosted Jerry Seinfeld September 5th and 6th and Rod Stewart on September 24th.
Janet Jackson performed September 10th through the 20th at Resorts World Theatre. Tears for Fears performed in concert at the BleauLive Theater at Fontainebleau September 24th through the 27th. John Legend performed September 26th at The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas.
The average daily room rate in September was $191, down nearly 3% from $195, which resulted in monthly revenue per room of $150, a decline of 9%. The Strip’s average rate was $206.54, down from $209.58, a drop of 1.5%. Downtown’s room rate of $98.83 was down 3% from $107.25.
While air passenger traffic into Las Vegas was down in September, vehicles driving from California rose 3.4.