21 Useless Things We Learned From the 2021 Las Vegas Visitor Survey
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) has released its 2021 Las Vegas Visitor Profile, and while the annual report is reliably unreliable, it’s pretty much all we’ve got to measure visitor trends, so it’s worth a look.
The Las Vegas Visitor Profile is a survey of 3,917 randomly selected visitors. Chances are you weren’t one of them, which sucks because people who take the survey are given souvenirs worth dozens of dollars on eBay.
The annual survey is long and detailed, and since there’s no way you’re going to read it, we’re going to extract some tidbits you can memorize and bring up at parties to impress people of the opposite sex. The only reason we bother to blog is the opposite sex is very impressed with Las Vegas trivia, as long as they’ve also had a few drinks.
Here, then, are 21 useless nuggets from the 2021 Las Vegas Visitor Profile.
1. Of those surveyed, 20% of Las Vegas visitors in 2021 were first-time visitors. Yes, there are still some virgins in Las Vegas.
2. Just 4% of visitors said they’d attended a convention or trade show during their visit. For the last several years, that number had been 9-11%. That sound you hear is hotel banquet departments taking a swift knee to the nads.
3. When asked how they got to Las Vegas, 48% said by air, 52% said ground transportation.
4. In 2021, 53% of visitors said they’d been to downtown Las Vegas. The number was 57% in 2017, but that’s not a fair comparison because we were still doing marketing at Fremont Street Experience, and we’re really good.
5. Survey respondents were asked how many adults were in their immediate party, and 60% said two people. Eleven percent said three adults, indicating a big uptick in Las Vegas threesomes. Hey, you interpret the data your way and we’ll interpret it ours. That was actually a pretty popular thing to do in 2021, if you’ll recall.
6. A whopping 21% of survey participants said they brought kids with them on their Las Vegas visit, a huge increase over previous years (5% in 2019, 6% in 2018). We told you 2021 was weird.
7. In 2021, visitors stayed an average of 3.6 nights and 4.6 days in Las Vegas.
8. Of those surveyed, the average expenditure on food and drink for their visit was $462.37.
9. Seventy-six percent of visitors said they gambled during their visit, on par with recent years. It’s worth noting casinos have recorded record gambling revenue (more than $1 billion a month) for nearly a year straight. The people gambling are gambling more, and while the LVCVA isn’t talking about it, we are. Take a look.
10. The average amount of time spent gambling was three hours a day. Slackers.
11. The average number of casinos visited by those surveyed in 2021 was 5.7. The .7 casino was probably Ellis Island, it’s adorable.
12. The average trip gambling budget in 2021 was $717.51. In 2019, it was $591.06.
13. About one in five (19%) visitors attended a show during their visit in 2021. In recent years, the number has always been more than 50%. Some blame the brutal decrease in show attendance on the pandemic, we blame Criss Angel.
14. Of those surveyed, 56% were married. Interestingly, the survey didn’t ask if they were visiting Las Vegas with their spouse. Conclusion: The LVCVA is helping people cheat on their spouses. Data is fun!
15. In 2021, 15% of Las Vegas visitors were retirees.
16. More than half (54%) of visitors were 40 years old or older.
17. The average visitor’s age was 43.2.
18. Las Vegas visitors in 2021 were more ethnically diverse than in recent years: 56% white, 17% African-American, 6% Asian, 19% Hispanic and 3% “other.” We’re thinking “other” refers to the Ambonese, but the Ambonese are very humble, so they’re not all, “Hey, we’re South Moluccans, put us in your visitor survey!”
19. Thirty percent of Las Vegas visitors were from California, hence the ongoing kale shortage.
20. A solid 29% of visitors said their household income was $100,000 or more. Yes, LVCVA surveys are a wonderful way to humble brag.
21. Just three percent of Las Vegas visitors were from foreign countries. In 2019, it was 14%. In 2018, it was 20%. Las Vegas nads required a lot of ice packs in 2021.
We hope you enjoyed our breezy romp through the 2021 Las Vegas Visitor Profile.
The survey reflects some of the weirdness that was 2021, pandemicwise. Three big factors that affected survey results: 1) Travel restrictions, 2) COVID mandates and 3) people losing their damn minds.
Las Vegas relies heavily on international whales and convention attendees, both were in short supply in 2021.
Despite the challenges, such as staffing shortages and COVID mitigation procedures, 96% of those surveyed said they were satisfied with their visit to Las Vegas.
Tellingly, the percentage of visitors who said they were “very satisfied” was 70% in 2021, down from 94% in 2019 and 90% in 2018. Yes, there was significantly more whining in 2021. That wasn’t just a Las Vegas thing.
A hefty 48% of visitors said Las Vegas exceeded their expectations, and 46% said it met their expectations.
That’s right, Las Vegas is still kicking ass and taking surveys.
You can view the entire LVCVA annual survey here (.pdf format).
We’d love to hear what you think of the 2021 survey. Do the numbers track with your experience? If not, why? See anything wonky? More wonky than usual, we mean.
Everyone knows blog comment threads are a more reliable measure of visitor sentiment than any survey, so let’s hear it. Your thank-you souvenir is our undying gratitude. Let us know what you get for that on eBay.
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