Some 550,000 Brits visited Las Vegas last year – only just over three-quarters (78%) of the pre-pandemic total recorded back in 2019.
Fletch Brunelle, vice-president of marketing, Las Vegas Convention and Visitor Authority, told TTG at WTM London this week: “We want to attract more visitors from the UK, but it’s challenging because other markets like the Far East are providing great value.”
Compounding the downturn is the drop in Las Vegas’ top international market, Canada, and the shrinking of the US domestic market.
“We noticed the first signs of issues in June and July – we weren’t where we should have been – and the sentiment on socials was that Las Vegas no longer held the same value it did in the past," Brunelle continued.
"And so, in September, we launched our first ever destination-wide five-day sale. That was unusual for us, but it worked and it created a lot of excitement for us.”
He referenced one of Las Vegas’ resort groups, which in a normal week would take 150,000-160,000 bookings, and during the sale took 300,000 bookings.
“We’re having ongoing discussions with properties,” Brunelle said. “There may other opportunities, with Black Friday and Cyber Monday coming up.”
Even with the challenging conditions, he remained upbeat: “We’ve survived other tricky times, and we’ll find a way to survive this as well.”
A 7% increase in UK flight capacity should help that market, which is about 10-15% of Vegas’ international business, which in turn is 12% of total visitation. “I feel comfortable the UK numbers will be higher [in 2025] because of this extra capacity,” he said.
The Sphere 'a must-see attraction'
Las Vegas can always count on new product to tempt visitors, and a big project in the planning is Hard Rock Hotel, which will be a 550-all-suite property in a guitar-shaped tower, when it opens in 2027.
Brunelle said this was bringing an icon back to the destination – the original Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas was rebranded as Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. “Properties in Vegas tend to raise the bar and this is no exception… we haven’t seen an all-suite guitar tower before!”
A 32,000-seat baseball stadium will follow in spring 2028, located on the Strip, across from MGM Grand and Excalibur. This adds to the live sports appeal of Las Vegas, which already has NFL and Formula 1, now in its third year.
Brunelle said the destination had directly addressed feedback about F1 tickets and hotel prices: “This year we’ve introduced more affordable pricing for both race tickets and hotel rooms,” he said.
Meanwhile, he said the Sphere in Las Vegas was attracting rave reviews for its 4D immersion of the 1939 film, the Wizard of Oz, which has been reimagined for its 160,000 square foot, 16k resolution screen – and runs until March 31, 2026.
“There are 4D effects, like vibrating seats, tornados and flying monkeys, and it continues to be the must-see attraction in Las Vegas,” Brunelle said.
