People walk along the Strip at Paris Las Vegas on Thursday, March 23, 2023. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority’s 2022 Las Vegas Visitor Profile Study found that the typical tourist is younger and more ethnically diverse. (KM Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto
A recent study examining the impact of inflation on travel found that Las Vegas is one of the most expensive places to visit in the United States.
Forbes Advisor analyzed travel costs to major U.S. destinations and found that Las Vegas saw the biggest increase in travel costs over the past five years. The destination saw hotel rates increase by 47%, car rentals by 61%, and daily dining costs by 14%. On average, a hotel room will cost $252 in the fourth quarter of 2023, car rentals by roughly $77, and three meals a day by roughly $98.
Destinations that saw the biggest increases in travel costs were Tucson, Arizona; Sacramento, California; New Orleans and San Antonio, Texas.
Forbes Advisor used data from the Business Travel News Corporate Travel Index, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics and AAA to score 75 major cities on nine weighted criteria. Five-year changes in dining, hotels and car rentals were given the most weight, but domestic airfares, gas prices and different costs for certain segments of the population were also included in the ranking.
“The only relief for travelers is that the average price of airfare to and from Las Vegas has dropped slightly (-5.5%), which can help offset some of the cost of traveling to Las Vegas,” Forbes Advisor writer Becky Pocola said in an email. “Locals can also take advantage of lower airfares when they leave Las Vegas to vacation elsewhere as well.”
The survey comes at a time when tourists and businesses are beginning to wake up to the effects of inflation. Las Vegas’s major casino operators have hailed rising average room rates as bringing in more revenue. But industry officials say some customers will react to higher prices by loosening their purse strings while in Las Vegas, slowing the market and causing other effects, as lower-value travelers react to higher prices.
Contact McKenna Ross at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow McKennaross About X.
