Viva Las Vegas: Tourists Enjoy Sin City, But Gambling? Depends Where

Las Vegas tourism is on a winning streak, and several casinos that light up the city stand to benefit.

Sin City’s overnight stays saw growth compared to both last year and pre-COVID times, per Placer.ai data.

See below.

Tourism in Las Vegas is booming, with overnight stays in the city growing both YoY and compared to pre-COVID. pic.twitter.com/68Fa4OcXHT

— Placer.ai (@Placer_ai) June 4, 2024

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While fortunes were won in the hospitality sector, they were lost at several casinos.

“Record occupancy” was offset by lower-than-expected table hold — the amount of money made at a game during an eight-hour shift.

That’s what Caesars Entertainment CZR CEO Tom Reeg said in the company’s first-quarter earnings report.

Yet, other companies — MGM Resorts MGM and Las Vegas Sands Corp. LVS — generated more revenue compared to a year ago. The removal of COVID-19-related entry restrictions in Macau certainly helped.

So far, there are winners and losers in 2024:

Winners

• Las Vegas Sands reported quarterly adjusted earnings of 75 cents per share; net revenue of $2.96 billion; and net income of $583 million, compared to $145 million in Q1 of 2023.
• MGM Resorts boasts quarterly earnings of 74 cents per share, compared to earnings of 44 cents per share a year ago. It posted revenues of $4.38 billion for the quarter ended March 2024, compared to year-ago revenues of $3.87 billion.
• Wynn Resorts, Ltd WYNN revenues from Wynn’s Las Vegas operations were $636.5 million for Q1 of 2024. That’s an increase of $49.8 million from $586.8 million for the prior year’s quarter.

Losers

• Caesars reported a loss of $158 million, or a loss of 73 cents per share, for the first three months of 2024.
• Boyd Gaming Corporation BYD had “a challenging start to the year,” CEO Keith Smith said. It posted adjusted earnings of $1.51 per share, missing market estimates of $1.57 per share. Total adjusted EBITDAR was $330.5 million in Q1 — down from $367.1 million in the year-ago quarter.

The uptick in tourism stems from Super Bowl LVIII, which took place at the Las Vegas Allegiant Stadium on Feb. 11. It was the smallest crowd — 61,629 attendees — in the event’s history outside of Super Bowl LV (played during the COVID-19 pandemic).

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