For the past 25 years, Cleveland residents Esther and Tom McElhinney have regularly vacationed in Las Vegas. But the couple said the high prices and overall experience is getting worse every time. Tom McElhinney said the Strip’s elevated costs are driving them away.

“The food is expensive, hotels are expensive,” Tom McElhinney said standing between Harrah’s Las Vegas and The Linq. “There’s great stuff to do here. I just don’t want to have to pay $400 for every meal. There used to be bargains and going to buffets, but it seems like those are all disappearing.

“You used to be able to play $5 blackjack everywhere, but now everything is high,” Tom McElhinney continued. “The allure here is gone. Vegas is really pricing people out.”

Strip resort operators are facing the industry’s worst economic downturn since the Great Recession 15 years ago. Gaming revenue at Strip resorts has declined in four of the last seven months and is essentially flat compared to 2024. Despite optimism from casino CEOs, analysts expect the Strip to face ongoing challenges into the fall. 

There are also fewer Las Vegas visitors. Through July, the Strip has drawn more than 22.6 million visitors, down by 2 million from a year ago, an 8 percent decline.

Labor Day weekend, normally one of the year’s busiest holidays, is expected to see a nearly 2 percent drop in visitation, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. The three-day weekend is expected to draw 320,000 visitors, down from 326,000 a year ago.

One challenge facing resort operators is the message on social media and other platforms is that Las Vegas is overpriced and no longer a value to the travel consumer.

Chicago visitor Patty Steiner said she usually comes every year to Las Vegas. But she’s not making plans to come back in 2026, as airline tickets and other expenses have gone up in cost.

“Everything is high. I just feel like it’s going to be a long road,” Steiner said. “The prices are outrageous. The food is crazy. I'm just very unhappy.”

Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority CEO Steve Hill said he doesn’t believe in that narrative. At a media briefing Friday, Hill defended Las Vegas as a value destination and said the market has options to suit all consumers.

“Don't just believe what you read. Go and do a little bit of work,” Hill said. “Call a travel agent, call on the properties. See what the price of Las Vegas really is, rather than some general headline that, frankly, is not accurate.”

Record-breaking years

The Strip set a single-year record for gaming revenue in 2007 — $6.8 billion. After the recession took hold in 2008, it took almost a decade until Strip operators got close to reaching that total again in 2018 and 2019. The Strip saw a 43 percent gaming revenue decline in 2020 due to the pandemic, but rebounded in 2021 to what was then a single-year revenue record of almost $7.1 billion.

Michael Lawton, who recently retired as the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s senior economic analyst, evaluated the state’s steep drop off and recovery after the recession and pandemic. He said the current market decline doesn’t mirror either of those periods. 

He said the state has recorded 53 consecutive months of $1 billion or more in gaming and is  averaging $1.3 billion over the past 12 months. Before March 2021, Nevada hit the $1 billion mark 49 times ever.

“I can't support the gloom and doom narrative with the stated numbers,” Lawton said. “In order to surpass those record-breaking totals it might take some time as the market recalibrates, new properties and venues are developed and additional signature special events come on line.”  

Casino bosses are hoping for a much quicker turnaround from the current downturn.

“We are seeing improvement post mid-summer,” Golden Entertainment CEO Blake Sartini said on the company’s second quarter conference call on Aug. 8. “We're seeing some positive green shoots in August. It's hard to look beyond that, given the uncertainty in the macro environment in town.”

Sartini, whose company operates The Strat Hotel, Tower and Skypod, said hotel room occupancy should show improvement. However, “the question is where do rates settle in on that additional demand and occupancy. And that's the toughest one for us to try and gauge.” 

‘Las Vegas is still solid’

MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment each saw 4 percent revenue declines at their Strip properties for the three months between April and June. The companies are the largest Strip operators with a combined 18 resorts. Much of the revenue dip, top executives told analysts, was from reduced hotel bookings and declining rates.

Top executives have continued to remain upbeat and downplay market concerns on earnings calls.

“I want to take this opportunity to emphasize that Las Vegas remains fundamentally solid,” MGM Resorts CEO Bill Hornbuckle said in July on the company’s second-quarter earnings call. 

The average daily room rate on the Strip is down 5.1 percent — $193.36 in 2025 compared to $203.78 in 2024. And despite commentary from corporate casino operators last month that room rates should trend upward in the fall, Truist Securities gaming analyst Barry Jonas said rates remain low into October.

In a research note looking at MGM and Caesars properties, Jonas wrote that he now looks to November for room rates to begin trending upward. The month includes the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix, which will be held Nov. 19-22. 

According to an economic impact statement on the 2024 race, produced by Las Vegas research and economic firm Applied Analysis, the event generated $934 million in Southern Nevada and drew more than 306,000 ticketed race fans. Grand Prix officials don’t reveal ticket sales numbers before the race, but several grandstand and suite locations along the 3.8-mile circuit are shown as “sold out” on the race’s website.

In addition, Allegiant Stadium will host two football games that same weekend — UNLV plays the University of Hawaii on Saturday, and the Las Vegas Raiders host the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.

“While the summer weakness was largely previewed by operators, we think a key question is whether a [fourth quarter] Strip inflection comes to fruition,” Jonas wrote.

While hotel room costs have come down, other tourist attractions — dining and entertainment — have maintained elevated prices, which has annoyed many visitors. 

Esther McElhinney said the dinner bill for her and her two daughters at Hell’s Kitchen at Caesars Palace was $425. 

“The two of them can’t even drink [alcohol], and I only ordered one [drink]. It was just super expensive,” she said. “I always loved coming here to eat and to shop, and both those things now are ridiculous.”

Other Las Vegas visitors have found ways to avoid high costs. 

Brianna Garcia, who was visiting Las Vegas for a bachelorette trip, said she bought a discounted ticket for the “Thunder from Down Under” show at Excalibur and was able to land a table at TAO Beach at The Venetian through a promoter.

“You have to plan everything in advance,” Garcia said. “You can’t just come to Vegas and expect things to just happen, or else you’re going to have to deal with high prices.”

Downtown and locals are doing better

Downtown casinos aren’t feeling as much of a crunch as the Strip since it attracts a healthy mix of tourists and locals. Gaming revenue through July is up 1 percent, and the average daily hotel room rate is below $100 a night, $97.19, which is down 4.2 percent from a year ago.

Circa Resort & Casino CEO Derek Stevens, in an interview with Fox News Digital, acknowledged Las Vegas "may be pricing itself out" for the average visitor. 

He said the days of the Strip and downtown “being a place to visit because of cheap buffets and things like that are a bit in the past. I understand how a number of people are talking about missing some of those elements."

Stevens, who operates two additional downtown properties — Golden Gate and D Las Vegas — said Las Vegas has evolved similarly to other tourism-dependent cities, especially on things such as dining.

He noted that Circa offers 11 dining options, including restaurants, bars and cafés.

“I think every property owner wants to design a very broad-ranging restaurant selection because people like to eat where they wake up," Stevens said.

While Strip resorts saw declines. Red Rock executives said its Las Vegas-area casinos delivered the highest three-month revenue period in the company’s 49-year history. The seven properties produced $513.3 million between April and June, a 6.2 percent increase.

Red Rock Chief Financial Officer Stephen Cootey said the results highlighted the difference between casinos on the Strip and the locals market. Red Rock’s seven properties operate a combined 3,000 hotel rooms — a total that mirrors the average Strip resort. 

During the recession, the locals market crumbled along with the Strip — but numbers from the control board show non-Strip casinos serving locals and downtown have fared much better this summer than their Strip counterparts.

“While the Strip relies heavily on tourism, conventions and hotel-driven revenue, we are anchored by a gaming-centric business model,” Cootey said. “We offer locals a stronger value proposition, which is driving more people to our casinos.”

Cootey said Red Rock saw a 15 percent increase in customers 35 or younger during the quarter, which he attributed to new amenities, including restaurants and newer slot machines at Green Valley Ranch, Sunset Station and the 2023 opening of Durango Casino Resort.  

“This resonates with our local guests, but it's starting to increasingly resonate with our out-of-town guests,” Cootey said.

Boyd Gaming, which has three resorts downtown, has one property — the Orleans Hotel and Casino — that draws a customer mix of locals and tourists because of its location 2 miles west of the Strip.

Boyd Gaming CEO Keith Smith said on a quarterly conference call in July that Strip resorts were lowering summer hotel room rates, which draws business away from the Orleans. 

“Summer room rates are always low compared to the other seasons,” Smith said. “This year, they're lower than last year — in many cases, by quite a bit. I don't know why [resort operators] are doing that.”