LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is still compiling results from its recent five-day sale, but early indications are beginning to show how successful the promotion may have been.
The sale, designed to drive bookings and increase visitation to the city, wrapped up more than a week ago. While the LVCVA has not yet released full data, early signs suggest higher traffic and engagement from potential travelers.
Dr. Marla Royne Stafford, a professor of marketing and international business at UNLV, said she has seen signs of increased activity but has yet to see evidence of higher bookings. “I’m not privy to the inside information, but what I’ve read shows a lot of increased traffic activity,” she said. “What I haven’t seen—and I would like to think it might have been one of their goals of the sales promotions—is actual increased bookings.”
Recent visitor data from the LVCVA continues to show a slowdown in tourism. Stafford said while the sale was likely aimed at reversing that trend, external factors, including uncertainty around the federal government shutdown, could make recovery more difficult.
“It’s a problem when there’s a government shutdown because it is a threat,” she said. “It causes a lot of problems among consumers—what’s going to happen, how it affects the economy. It affects so many things, including tourism. The fact that it happened right in the middle of this campaign certainly was not ideal for Las Vegas.”
Despite the challenges, Stafford believes efforts by the tourism authority and resort industry are steps in the right direction. “Obviously, the people that need to be worried about it are worried about it and are taking action, and that’s great,” she said. “Hopefully we’ll see some positive results, increased travel and spending. I’ll be curious to see what the final numbers show when they’re released.”
In a statement, the LVCVA said it is working with its resort partners to compile the full results from the five-day sale and plans to share the data once the economic impact is finalized.
