Vegas Visitors Spend More Time, Money On Gambling In 2021, Says Survey

The Las Vegas Convention And Visitors Authority (LVCVA) has recently published its nearly yearly Visitor Profile. The 2021 Las Vegas Visitor Profile is the first of its kind since the 2019 report.

The LVCVA did not publish a complete report in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last year, mid-year, the tourism board released a partial profile that only encompassed a few topics.

This comprehensive Visitor Profile is replete with trends from last year’s tourists. It discusses subjects such as the amount visitors spent on gambling, dining, shopping, and shows during their Las Vegas trips. The report also revisits the methodologies and timings of visitors when booking their Las Vegas vacations.

As expected, the 2021 Visitor Profile diverges slightly from prior years as visitors started to leave their homes more often. Despite visitors from across the nation returning to Las Vegas, the city continued to grapple with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Visitor Profile is based on data collected from a sample of 3,917 tourists in Las Vegas. While this data may not be entirely accurate, it helps form a representation of the typical Las Vegas visitor. The average is not indicative of a single individual, but rather represents the overall population.

Las Vegas Was A Vacation Destination In 2021

In the last five years or so, Las Vegas casinos and hotels have targeted business travelers. These guests generally spend more on non-gaming amenities, unlike most tourists who strive to stretch their budgets while traveling.

In general, visitors to Las Vegas in 2021 were of a younger demographic, which is understandable given that older Americans were more likely to stay home to evade COVID-19.

The mean age of those who visited Las Vegas last year was 43.2. This is the lowest recorded in the past five reports. This decrease in average age can be attributed to a significant drop in visitors aged over 65 and a substantial increase in visitors under 40.

Last year, Las Vegas didn’t host many business meetings or conventions. In fact, most visitors were there for vacations, not work-related trips.

Visitors were more likely to be traveling as a family with children, as a trip to Las Vegas was one of their first vacations in a couple of years. Just like in 2020, there was a surge in visitors from the western part of the country.

In 2021, there was an increase in spending on food and beverages by visitors, with the average spend per trip being $462.37. This marked an over 10% increase from 2019, when visitors spent an average of $410.74, a figure that had been the highest in the category for the preceding six years.

Due to the reduction in shows, visitors in Las Vegas opted to spend their money on shopping. Last year, visitors spent an average of $284.55 per visit, which was nearly $100 more than what was spent during visits in 2019.

The report indicates that 80% of visitors to Las Vegas in 2021 were returning visitors, marking the highest rate in recent years.

A significant shift in visitation last year was the surge in individuals scheduling a visit at the last moment. In the previous year, 27% of the visitors arranged their trip 15-30 days prior.

Last year, the most popular booking period was within 60 days before a visit, with 48% of all visitors booking a trip to Las Vegas during this timeframe.

To put it into perspective, in the last complete profile from 2019, 23% of tourists planned their Las Vegas trip over 90 days ahead.

More Visitors Went Downtown Than Recent Years

In 2021, downtown Las Vegas saw a greater influx of visitors compared to recent years. As per the report, downtown was visited by 59% of all Las Vegas tourists last year, marking the highest percentage since 2017.

Overall, 64% of downtown visitors went for sightseeing or to visit the Fremont Street Experience.

Last year, as entertainment on the Vegas Strip was still gathering momentum, a visit to downtown Las Vegas provided an opportunity to seek out fun activities. Despite limited entertainment options, strolling through the open-air mall of casinos offered a delightful way to experience Las Vegas.

Gamble was the second most common reason for visiting downtown Las Vegas. However, this didn’t represent a rise in numbers. In fact, only 12% of visitors came to downtown Las Vegas expressly to gamble, a decrease from the 14% recorded in 2019.

The player-friendly rules and odds at downtown Las Vegas casinos should make it a more popular destination for gamblers than the Vegas Strip casinos.

Rules at casinos on the Vegas Strip have been modified to give the house a greater advantage in table games. However, downtown casino operators generally stick to the traditional rules of table games. For instance, downtown casinos do not offer 000 roulette games and have fewer 6:5 blackjack games compared to those on the Vegas Strip.

Las Vegas Gambllng Tendencies In 2021

Despite the limited entertainment options in Las Vegas last year, fewer people gambled during their vacation compared to 2019. The report reveals that in 2021, 76% of Las Vegas visitors gambled, a drop from 81% in 2019.

However, the duration of gambling by those who did has surpassed any of the previous five years surveyed. Among all the visitors who gambled during their stay in Las Vegas, 53% gambled for two hours or less on an average day.

In 2017, the peak of people who gambled infrequently when visiting Las Vegas reached 77%.

The greatest increase in gambling duration was observed in the three to four-hour range, with 26% of players engaging in games and machines. An additional 13% of gamblers spent five to six hours in play.

In 2021, gamblers diversified their money among a larger number of casinos than typically seen in previous years. On average, each visitor gambled in 3.2 casinos last year, marking an increase from the average of 1.9 casinos in 2018 and two casinos in 2016.

In 2021, gamblers on average set aside $717.51 for each trip. Nearly 39% of all gamblers allocated a budget of $600 or more, an increase from the period between 2016 and 2019 when Las Vegas offered more entertainment options.

Keep in mind, this budget is an average ranging from the most casual gamblers to the most serious players.

It should also be noted that, of the visitors surveyed, 61% paid the full retail price for hotel rooms in 2021. A mere 9% got their rooms for free through a casino or a hotel rewards program, which is somewhat related.

This was the smallest number of people who got complimentary rooms in the last five reports.