LAS VEGAS — Visitors to Las Vegas are spending more money, a new study reveals.
Visitor spending on food and beverage, local transportation, shows and entertainment, shopping and sightseeing is on the rise, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority’s (LVCVA’s) 2016 Visitor Profile Study.
Las Vegas in 2016 enjoyed record-breaking visitation for a third year in a row with 42.9 million visitors, and local tourism had an estimated local economic impact of $60 billion. Nearly one on three visitors (27 percent) were in Las Vegas for the first time, an 11 percent increase from 2015.
“The Visitor Profile Study is a tremendous resource for determining the trends and visitor traits that are integral to formulating our future strategies for the LVCVA and our resort partners to market the destination,” Kevin Bagger, executive director of the LVCVA Research Center, said in a news release.
“This year’s study contains great insights into today’s visitor, including that visitor spending is on the rise and there is a change in the visitor demographic,” Bagger added. “We’re attracting more first-time visitors to the destination, and those visitors are younger and more diverse than in years past. We also saw growth in the number of non-gaming visitors. However, the visitors who did participate in gaming budgeted to spend more on gaming than in previous years.”
Visitor spending is up on average across all key areas. Average per trip spending on food & beverage increased from $292.42 in 2015 to $319.93 in 2016, an increase of 9.4 percent. Also showing significant increases over previous years was average per trip spending on sightseeing at $35.93, up from $14.86 in 2015, and shopping at $156.91, up from $122.66 in 2015.
