Las Vegas welcomed 38.8 million visitors in 2022, according to research published today by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA). This represents a 20.5 percent boost from 2021.
Conventions also continued to ramp up in 2022, the first full calendar year of tradeshows and meetings since the pandemic, hosting nearly 5 million meeting attendees. That is more than double the 2.2 million convention attendees in 2021. Hotel occupancy for 2022 also came in at a strong 79 percent, with weekend occupancy at 89 percent and midweek occupancy a 75 percent. Las Vegas leads the nation in overall hotel occupancy, which averages 63 percent.
Travel to Las Vegas was boosted by several major sporting events, such as the NFL Pro Bowl in February and Draft in April, a full season of the Las Vegas Raiders, and international soccer games that featured global giants Real Madrid CF, FC Barcelona, Juventus FC, Chelsea FC and others. Travel to the destination also become more accessible with the lifting of final international travel restrictions paired with the addition three new airlines and 36 new markets at Harry Reid International Airport.
Las Vegas looks forward to a strong 2023 with $3.2 billion in major development planned throughout the resort corridor. Fontainebleau Las Vegas is expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2023 with 3,700 rooms and 550,000 square feet of meeting and convention space. The $2.17 billion MSG Sphere at The Venetian is under construction and scheduled to open the second half of 2023. It will feature 17,500 seats, an exosphere with 580,000 square feet of programmable lighting and the largest and highest-resolution LED screen on earth.
Several renovations and reinvestments will also occur in 2023, including room remodel at New York-New York and The Mirage rebrand to Hard Rock Hotel as well as renovations to the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.
Major international sporting events are also on tap for the Greatest Arena on Earth this year, including the NFL Pro Bowl (Feb. 5), L’Etape by Tour de France (May 7) and the inaugural Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix (Nov. 16-18), which will launch its inaugural event in Las Vegas. Super Bowl LVIII will arrive at Allegiant Stadium on Feb. 11, 2024.
