Tourism still drives Southern Nevada economy despite visitation dip, analyst says
Despite a diminution successful visitation past year, Southern Nevada’s tourism manufacture remained the region’s ascendant economical engine, generating $50.8 cardinal successful visitant spending and supporting astir 1 retired of each 3 jobs, according to a caller study presented Tuesday.
Jeremy Aguero, main expert with Las Vegas-based economical probe steadfast Applied Analysis, told the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority committee that tourism continues to underpin the determination system adjacent arsenic visitation and visitant spending softened.
“This manufacture generates much jobs, much wages and salaries, much economical interaction output than immoderate different manufacture successful the authorities of Nevada by a precise wide margin,” Aguero said Tuesday. “It generates much taxation dollars astatine the authorities and section level. It generates a singular magnitude of societal impact. It continues to beryllium the bosom of our economy.”
Las Vegas attracted astir 38.5 million visitors successful 2025, a 7.5 percent alteration from 2024 and a 9.4 percent diminution from the 42.5 million visitors who came to the destination successful 2019. Aguero acknowledged that the marketplace experienced immoderate softness pursuing respective years of beardown maturation but pushed backmost against suggestions that the diminution signaled a broader collapse.
“Some articles would suggest there’s immoderate apocalypse happening,” helium said. “It was a decline. But again, (visitation is) not going to emergence each year.”
Visitors spent $50.8 cardinal successful Southern Nevada past year, oregon an mean of $1,318 per idiosyncratic per trip, according to the report. While that was down from astir $55.1 cardinal successful 2024, Aguero said visitant spending remained comparatively stable, helped successful portion by the continued spot of the normal conception and the diverseness of the region’s tourism offerings. Visitor spending reached $36.9 cardinal successful 2019, oregon an mean of $867 per visitant per spend.
The study recovered tourism straight supported astir 250,630 jobs successful Southern Nevada, oregon 1 retired of each 5 jobs successful the region. When indirect and induced impacts are included, specified arsenic supplier businesses and spending by tourism workers passim the section economy, the manufacture supported astir 382,320 jobs, oregon astir 1 retired of each 3 jobs.
Tourism generated $15.2 cardinal successful nonstop wages and salaries successful 2025. Including ripple effects passim the economy, the manufacture supported $22 cardinal successful wages, meaning astir 3 retired of each $10 paid to workers successful Southern Nevada were tied to tourism activity.
According to the report, $50.8 cardinal successful nonstop economical output is supported by determination tourism, representing astir one-quarter of Southern Nevada’s gross determination product. Including indirect and induced