Las Vegas Tourism Slumps, September Visits Down 8.8%

Published on Nov 3, 2025, 7:37 pm CST

3 min read

Key points

LVCVA reports 3.09 million September visitors, down 8.8% year over year
Hotel occupancy fell to 78.7% and RevPAR declined 9.0% to $149.97
Convention attendance slid 18.7% to about 428,400 on show calendar shifts
Absence of 2024's 45,000-attendee MINExpo and CloudWorld's move to October weighed on midweek
Officials also cite weaker international demand and value concerns among travelers

Impact

Who Is Affected: Leisure visitors and convention travelers will encounter tighter midweek value and fewer room deals than in prior years but softer pricing than peak 2024
What Changed: Visitor volume, occupancy, and RevPAR all declined in September alongside a sharp drop in convention attendance
Key Dates: September 2025 results reflect the loss of quadrennial MINExpo and Oracle CloudWorld's shift to October 13-16, 2025
What To Do: Price compare Strip and Downtown, target Sun-Thu stays, and monitor convention calendars before booking
Outlook: International demand, convention cadence, and perceived value will drive whether fall and winter stabilize trends

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Las Vegas logged about 3,091,400 visitors in September 2025, an 8.8 percent year-over-year decline, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. Hotel occupancy slipped to 78.7 percent, down 5.2 points, and revenue per available room fell 9.0 percent to $149.97. Convention attendance dropped 18.7 percent to roughly 428,400, with officials pointing to fewer large shows on the September calendar. Travelers should expect continued price dispersion by night and property as operators balance slower midweek demand with weekend strength.

LVCVA's September read

The LVCVA's monthly executive summary attributes the drop partly to the absence of the quadrennial MINExpo, which brought about 45,000 attendees in September 2024, and partly to Oracle CloudWorld's shift from September last year to October this year, reducing midweek hotel compression. ADR averaged $190.56, down 2.9 percent year over year, while total room nights occupied fell 6.7 percent.

Latest developments

Local reporting echoes the LVCVA figures, noting visitor volume just under 3.1 million and a softer month for Strip gaming revenue. Convention tallies and occupancy declines match the authority's data. Separately, CloudWorld 2025 ran October 13-16 in Las Vegas, confirming the calendar shift that pulled tech traffic out of September.

Analysis

The September stumble hinges on event cadence and value perception. On cadence, the every-four-years MINExpo was a one-time September 2024 boost and does not return until 2028, while CloudWorld's October placement trimmed tech-driven stays from September 2025. On value, regional coverage and national analysis throughout late summer highlighted traveler pushback on total trip costs, even as ADRs eased from 2024 peaks. The LVCVA's own strip and downtown ADR trends show modest year-over-year declines, but add-on fees and higher on-property pricing continue to shape sentiment. For now, weekend demand remains resilient, but midweek softness deserves attention for both visitors hunting deals and properties managing yields.

Background Las Vegas is a bellwether for U.S. leisure and business travel. The market's monthly swings are highly sensitive to the convention calendar, international air demand, and perceived trip value. Over the summer, officials and outlets cited weaker international inflows, especially from Canada, alongside cost concerns, as contributing factors to the broader slump. Those pressures intersected with September's lighter show lineup to produce a steeper year-over-year comparison.

Final thoughts

Las Vegas tourism remains volume-negative year over year, with September's 8.8 percent slide underscoring how event timing and traveler value calculus can steer monthly results. The primary keyword, Las Vegas tourism slump, will hinge on how fall conventions and international demand refill midweek.