Las Vegas Tourism Officials Expect Slightly Subdued New Year’s Holiday

Posted on: December 30, 2025, 09:11h. 

Last updated on: December 30, 2025, 10:21h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.
  • Las Vegas is expecting 345K visitors for the New Year’s holiday
  • The Strip will once again light up at midnight for an eight-minute fireworks showcase

Las Vegas tourism officials hope 2026 bucks the 2025 trend of declining visitation. For this week’s New Year’s holiday, however, those travel experts aren’t betting on the beginning of Southern Nevada’s reawakening.

Las Vegas New Year's Eve hotel rooms
Fireworks light up the Las Vegas Strip on New Year’s Eve 2020. Las Vegas is projected to welcome approximately 345K visitors this New Year’s holiday. Travelers in need of last-minute rooms will need to pay a premium. (Image: Shutterstock)

Through October 2025, visitor volume to Las Vegas is 7.6% lower than it was in 2024. The Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority (LVCVA) estimates that approximately 32.31 million people visited the casino town during those 10 months, or about 2.64 million fewer people than in the prior year.

While Las Vegas might be poised for a comeback in 2026, the LVCVA projects the New Year’s festivities to be slightly subdued from last year. The destination’s promoter forecasts that 345K people will travel to Las Vegas for Wednesday night’s New Year’s Eve celebration. That’s a slight 1.15% year-over-year decrease from NYE 2025, or about 4,000 travelers.

Las Vegas welcomed 347K visitors for New Year’s 2024, 336K visitors for NYE 2023, and 309K people for NYE 2022.

Las Vegas Hotel Rates High

The LVCVA believes there will be fewer people in town for the Strip’s annual New Year’s fireworks, but with increased demand for the remaining room allotment following the 2024 closures of Tropicana and Mirage, collectively removing more than 4,500 rooms from the market, prices for this week are high.

The LVCVA projects casino hotels to be nearly full, with marketwide room occupancy hovering around 95%. Those rates could be slightly hampered by a gloomy weather forecast.

AccuWeather is forecasting a high of only 56 degrees Fahrenheit on New Year’s Eve, with showers possible in the afternoon. Thursday — New Year’s Day — is forecasted to be “dull and dreary with showers,” with the high at only 52 degrees. There’s a 91% chance of showers on Jan. 1, 2026.

Despite the cool forecast, remaining Las Vegas room rates are hot.

A room at the Fontainebleau for December 31 is $846. Vdara is $775, Conrad at Resorts World is $929, The Venetian is $751, and Wynn and Encore are $1,075. The nearly sold-out Cosmopolitan is at $1,812, and Caesars Palace is $938.

There are some cheaper options on the Strip, including MGM Grand ($490), Park MGM ($450), New York-New York ($461), Sahara ($429), and Planet Hollywood ($534). A room at the off-Strip Rio can be had for $349.

Las Vegas Fireworks 

As always, the Las Vegas Strip will feature among the nation’s best fireworks to ring in the New Year. Dubbed “America’s Party,” several Strip casinos are participating in this year’s midnight fireworks spectacle to provide exceptional views from across the Las Vegas Valley.

Fireworks will be shot from the roofs of Aria, Caesars Palace, Fontainebleau, MGM Grand, Planet Hollywood, Resorts World, The Strat, Treasure Island, The Venetian, and, for the first time, the Palms will expand the fireworks off the Strip. The Plaza will shoot fireworks for the downtown crowd.

The eight-minute coordinated show, Las Vegas tourism officials say, will “epically” light the way into the new year.