LAS VEGAS — The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority got the best news they could have hoped for with the release of its 2023 Visitor Profile Study this month.
According to surveys conducted for the 52-page report, travelers to Las Vegas still find it a bargain destination compared with other places they may be inclined to visit.
While many locals are fed up with paying for things they didn’t pay for in the past and the so-called “junk fees” that President Joe Biden has vowed to eliminate — resort fees come to mind — those surveyed for the authority’s annual report continue to arrive in near-record numbers.
They continue to spend more than ever and gamble record amounts.
Not only that, they seem happy with their trips, and many felt the destination exceeded their expectations.
According to the study, nearly nine in 10 (87 percent) visitors to Las Vegas in 2023 said that they were “very satisfied” with their visits, up from 77 percent in 2022, while 11 percent said they were “somewhat satisfied.” Only 2 percent of visitors were dissatisfied with their visits.
Visitors are younger
Las Vegas visitors are younger than they’ve been historically and are spending more on lodging, food, shopping, entertainment and gambling when they come.
It’s a more diverse crowd that’s here than ever before.
“The key question — and this is the first thing I jump to every year — is visitor satisfaction,” Kevin Bagger, the vice president of the authority’s Research Center, told the board at a meeting Tuesday. “I want to know that our visitors are having a good time. Is there anything that’s making them go in the wrong direction?”
Historically, the dissatisfied come in at under 5 percent, an indication that they are happy enough to keep coming back. Uber drivers I’ve spoken to anecdotally say resort fees are what rile them up the most.
Deeper in the report, surveyors asked specific questions about why people were dissatisfied with their stay. At the top of the list, with 19 percent of the 112 people asked (the number who said they were dissatisfied) was “too expensive.”
That was followed by “hotel complaints” 18 percent, “Las Vegas is too dirty with too many homeless people” 17 percent, “too crowded” 9 percent, “gambling complaints” 7 percent, “too hard to get around” 7 percent, “trip was too short” 5 percent and “too much going on/too intense” 2 percent. A total of 17 percent had “other” complaints.
Among activities visitors participated in — and how much money was spent — everything was on the rise except attending a show.
The report showed for food and beverage, from 2022 to 2023, the amount spent went from $527.13 to $570.15 per trip among all travelers, among those who spent something per category.
Shopping per trip went from $270.95 to $414.01; local transportation rose from $189.79 to $238.02; sightseeing from $64.16 to $177.47; and for sporting events from $271.58 to $326.40.
Entertainment spending
The one category that showed a drop was for shows and entertainment, in which per-trip spending fell from $309.76 to $278.44.
The study found that 57 percent attended a production show, up from 54 a year earlier; a headliner act 21 percent, down from 25 percent; magic shows, comedy acts and impersonator tribute shows stood at 14 percent, 6 percent and 2 percent, respectively; while nightclubs and DJ shows fell from 4 percent to 2 percent; and Broadway shows, from 2 percent to 1 percent.
Attending a sporting event — which includes parents in town to watch their children or friends play in tournaments — held at 6 percent from 2022 to 2023.
Overall, 79 percent said they gambled compared with 75 percent a year earlier. They played an average 2.4 hours compared with 2.6 hours in 2022 and had a gambling budget of $787.54 compared with $761.22.
