Is Las Vegas outpricing itself?

Every year, tens of millions of visitors visit Las Vegas with the aim of spending money. Hitting it big at a casino is part of the dream that draws tourists to the desert in droves, but the reality for the vast majority of Las Vegas visitors is that the experience they seek will cost them money.

For the most part, they are fine with that. As proven by a record-breaking number of passengers at Harry Reid International Airport in 2024 and four straight years of increased visitor figures, the rising cost of a Las Vegas trip is not a deterrent.

However, more and more people are voicing dissatisfaction with the escalating expenditures of visiting a Las Vegas hotel-casino, especially in the years following the COVID-19 outbreak. From resort and parking fees to spike pricing in convenience stores, table games with a higher house edge, and outrageous food and drink markups, there is growing concern that Las Vegas resorts are squeezing guests.

Casino employees say it's a fine balance between being profitable and giving value to customers, which is becoming increasingly challenging as operational costs rise and economic uncertainty grows.

The cost of visiting Las Vegas mounts up

Bill Perry, a 64-year-old retiree who moved to Las Vegas in 2020 after years of regular visits, believes that a public perception that Las Vegas casinos prioritize profits over the guest experience may eventually lead visitors to seek out alternate places.

A cup of regular coffee costs $6 or $7 (after coffee makers were removed from hotel rooms), domestic beers cost $10 or more, cocktails often cost $25 or more, and fast-food and soft drink combos cost more than $30 per person are just a few examples of uncomfortably high prices frequently cited by visitors. Gamblers avoid particular casinos due to unfavorable gaming conditions such as 6:5 blackjack.

“I think Vegas is kind of pricing itself out,” Perry said. “(Las Vegas casinos) welcome you with their words, but their actions aren’t following up with that. You don’t feel welcome at all when you’re charged every time you turn around (after) you already put out a lot of money just to be there.”

What casinos have to say about rising pricing

Casino operators have remarked that their costs are also rising, with labor and food prices leading the way. In the years since the outbreak, Las Vegas casinos have faced additional costs, ranging from new labor contracts with tens of thousands of union members to the impact of inflation on ordinary commodities.

Despite bigger economic challenges, casino operators reaffirmed their commitment to providing value and affordability for a wide range of client budgets. According to casino officials, Las Vegas continues to provide value and can be a relative bargain when compared to other major tourist destinations in the United States.

The president of Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, stated that the goal for his off-Strip hotel has always been to attract visitors looking for a welcoming yet high-end hospitality experience while preserving the value that Las Vegas is known for.

Some casino operators recognize the value of listening to their guests and, where appropriate, acting on their feedback.

Derek Stevens, co-owner of three downtown Las Vegas hotels — Circa, The D, and Golden Gate — and, arguably, the most recognizable casino executive in town, said he believes in engaging with customers and listening to their feedback.

Some properties are listening and adapting

As dissatisfaction with growing costs spreads via social media, travel reviews, and even among lifelong gamblers, several Las Vegas casinos have taken note – and are changing. To entice returning core consumers, some operators have begun to lower costs, promote local bargains, eliminate some levies, or improve playing conditions.

The Palms Casino Resort recently made news by stating that it would only provide 3:2 blackjack, bucking a long-standing industry trend toward 6:5 blackjack, which has a significantly greater house edge. Despite complaints from knowledgeable players about the property's usage of continuous shuffling machines (“CSM's”) on most of its blackjack tables, the decision was seen in the main as a gain for the typical casino customer.

But advantage players do not benefit from the use of CSM's. “It makes the games unplayable. We don’t even consider continuous shuffling machine games to be blackjack, and do not include them in our listings,” said long-time professional blackjack player Al Rogers of Las Vegas, who is also the editor of the monthly Current Blackjack News, which has been published continuously since 1979.

However, industry-wide reforms due to consumer concerns are doubtful. Surveys show that, despite some customers' dissatisfaction with increasing prices, Las Vegas still provides enough value to keep visitors coming back, with overall satisfaction rates remaining high.

According to the most current LVCVA visitor profile, 87 percent of those questioned in 2024 said they were "very satisfied" with their visit to Las Vegas, a decrease from 94 percent in 2019. Another 10% said they were "somewhat satisfied" last year. Half of the respondents (54%) felt Las Vegas exceeded their expectations.

Vegas continues to provide value, but is the tide shifting?

The evidence indicates that Las Vegas is not in peril. Not yet, anyhow. According to airport officials, more over 58.4 million passengers walked through its gates last year, representing a 1.4 percent increase from 2023. It was the airport's highest-ever recorded number of yearly passengers.

Convention business, which is one of the principal drivers of annual tourism, is stable, according to LVCVA data. In 2024, 8% of surveyed travelers reported attending or working at a convention, trade exhibition, association, or corporate meeting during their trip, compared to 9% in 2019.

Other data points in the LVCVA poll, however, indicate a shift in consumer preferences that, although not particularly worrying, should pique the industry's interest. Among those who reported being "somewhat satisfied" with their stay, 18% thought it was "too expensive." That number is lower than the 19% who felt this way in 2019, but it has increased each of the last three years. Of those who were "dissatisfied" with their Las Vegas visit (3% of all responses), 20% cited "too expensive" as the primary reason.

The average number of annual visits to Las Vegas fell somewhat last year, as did the average number of trips made by repeat tourists, which has decreased in each of the previous three years. The possibility of returning to Las Vegas remains high, with 75% of respondents indicating it was "extremely" or "very" likely, down from 84% last year and 87% in 2022.

According to LVCVA data, 55 percent of gamblers claimed Las Vegas "exceeded expectations," while 49 percent of non-gamblers agreed. Nearly two-thirds of millennials said Las Vegas "exceeded expectations," compared to less than half of Gen-X (47 percent) and Gen-Z (49 percent) respondents.

A shifting business model

The conventional Vegas business strategy of providing low-cost services to attract gamblers is no longer in place.

A UNLV hospitality professor who has also served in managerial positions for various Las Vegas hotel casinos, stated that this transformation has occurred over the last 15 years or so, and that "what we offer now is nothing new." The consumer has expressed an increased desire for higher-end experiences, which has helped casinos as they seek ways to boost profitability across all areas of the casino."

Today's Las Vegas relies heavily on non-gaming revenue. According to figures from the UNLV Center for Gaming Research, gaming accounted for 43% of the total annual income for properties located on The Strip. 2003. In 2023, the casino floor generated 35 percent of the Strip's income.

According to the LVCVA report, the average lodging spend per night reached an all-time high of $179.10 in 2024, when visitors spent more on food and beverages ($615.07) and retail ($281.12) per trip than they did in 2023.

According to the Forbes Advisor 2024 analysis, Las Vegas is one of the most costly destinations to visit in the United States. According to the survey, Las Vegas has witnessed a 47% spike in hotel room prices, a 61% increase in vehicle rentals, and a 14% increase in daily dining costs during the last five years.

Stevens, the downtown casino owner who has been connected with Las Vegas in some form since the 1990s, stated that rising prices are a "significant concern for everyone" and are being discussed "a lot more today" than a few years ago.

“Over the years, Vegas has gone through a lot of significant shifts. The old days of Vegas being the least expensive place to go on vacation — maybe that’s the case, maybe it’s not the case,” he said. “But you have to keep in mind the context of Las Vegas relative to other (destinations) … and the cost to go to many other cities has gone up far more than Vegas.”

Perry, the retiree, like the majority of comments on the subject, stated that they love Las Vegas and are only speaking out because they disagree with the direction the city looks to be taking. He believes Las Vegas is on the verge of losing visitors due to rising pricing and frequent levies or charges.

Source:

“Nickel and dimed: Are Las Vegas casinos pushing visitors to a tipping point?” , David Danzis, lvrj.com, March 20, 2025.