Sin City is undoubtedly still the place to be for major business events, particularly the trade shows. And business travellers are well and truly back at Las VegasThis is reflected in the 2022 report published by the local authorities. Visit Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) recorded 39 million visitors last year. And while the figure has not yet caught up with pre-pandemic levels, it is moving in the right direction, thanks in particular to business customers. By 2022, almostone visitor in ten (9 %) travelled to Las Vegas to attend a convention or company meeting. This figure is in line with the results for 2017-2019, and well above the 4% forecast for 2021.
Destination bleisure
Not surprisingly, the image of Las Vegas, destination bleisure par excellence, plays a major role in its appeal. The destination's added value even seems to be increasingly obvious to business travellers. Indeed, among travellers who attended a convention or business meeting there during their visit in 2022, 63 % believe they were more interested in attending the event because it was taking place in Las Vegas. The figure was "only" 41 % the previous year and 44 % in 2019.
Business travellers are even more confident than ever that they are also coming to Vegas for pleasure. The majority of professionals (58%) extended their stay to take advantage of the catalogue leisure of the destination, on average 1.7 days. This bleisure clientele was limited to 44 % in 2021, and for a shorter average duration (1.2 nights).
But playing for time like this has a cost... if only because the average nightly rate has risen sharply over the past year. It reached a record $154 in 2022, compared with around $114 between 2017 and 2019. In addition, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) points to more expensive behaviour at the gaming tables. The average gambling budget per visit was 761 dollars in 2022 - well above pre-pandemic levels - while the share of visitor-players remains stable at around 75%.
