Las Vegas, Sin City, the City that Never Sleeps, has been called many things: Gulch City, the Marriage Capital of the World, The City of Second Chances, The City of Lost Wages, et cetera, et cetera; it’s even been branded Gomorrah, after the biblical town of sin and all vices that was destroyed by hellfire and God’s damnation.
Now–101 days into the imperial reign of U.S. President Donald J. Trump–the capital of world gambling is facing, arguably, its greatest ever crisis since the first casino resort, El Rancho Vegas, opened on the fabled Strip on April 3, 1941.
According to latest data, Vegas visitor numbers have already shown a sharp decline since Mr Trump began his second presidential term and launched immediate economic and political warfare on neighbouring Canada and Mexico with swingeing tariffs against both countries and threats to incorporate Canada as the 51st U.S. state.
For Las Vegas this has had a particular resonance because, between them, Canada and Mexico provide more than 50 percent of visitors to the city — 52.1 percent to be exact.
Visitors Down
According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCA), visitor volume to Vegas fell by 11.9 percent in February this year, compared to the same month in 2024. And this before the long-telegraphed tariffs were formally imposed in March.
In 2024 Canadians formed the largest group of international visitors to Vegas (28.3 percent), followed by Mexicans (23.7 percent).
And the figures for March, just-in, make equally bleak news.
The LVCA reports that, year-on-year, Visitor Volume fell by 7.8 percent, down from 3,671,500 punters to 3,386,800, with Harry Reid International Airport welcoming 3.9 percent less passengers.
Gaming Revenue Down
Gaming revenue on the Vegas Strip dropped 4.8 percent, compared to March 2024, falling from US$715.87 million (£537.08m) to US$681.67 million (£511.41m).
In February–before the tariffs were imposed but concurrent with Mr Trump’s strident “America First”, anti-Canada and anti-Mexico rhetoric–gaming revenue on the Strip dropped by nearly 14 percent, said the authority, and convention attendance fell by 19.5 percent, year-on-year.
And with tariffs now in full swing and driving-up the cost of flights, fuel and hospitality imports, these key metrics are likely to be even further impacted in coming months.
Overseas visitor arrivals to the U.S. in March contracted by 11.6 percent, year-on-year, the first meaningful decline in tourists since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Grave Concerns
Visits from Western Europe dropped 17.2 percent in the month, with Germany down 28.2 percent and the UK 14.3 percent, following advice that even a valid U.S. visa did not guarantee trouble-free entry to the country and a number of disturbing reports that EU citizens had been detained or turned away at the border.
“The Trump tariffs will lead to an international economic slowdown. [And] I am gravely concerned that our tourism workers will face layoffs.
“Las Vegas knows well that when there is a downturn, we are the first to feel the impacts and the last to recover. If things get tougher in the United States, as anticipated, people will not have money in their pocket to go on holiday.”
Hurt
Nevada State Treasurer Zach Conine, also a Democrat, concurs.
He said: “Uncertainty is bad for business and it’s exceptionally bad for Nevada, where we count on people coming here and spending their money.
“As we saw during the [2008] Great Recession and as we saw during the pandemic, when Nevadans are uncertain, when the country is uncertain, when the footing of the country is a little bit less stable, the first thing they do is they cancel their trips.
“More than one-third of Nevada’s budget comes from gaming taxes, comes from the taxes of people who come here to consume. When those people don’t come, when they cancel their trips…we get hurt.”
Sin Documentos
Even Nevada’s Republican governor Joe Lombardo, concedes, albeit cryptically, that his president’s “tariffs are the great unknown”.
Last year Nevada had a total of 41.7 million visitors, supporting 385,000 jobs in the gaming and gambling-related industry and contributing some US$87.7 billion (£65.78bn) to the state’s economy.
As President Trump continues his frenzied re-shaping of America, and traditional American gambling itself shapes up to meet the challenge of super-powered prediction market sites, such as Kalshi and Robinhood, these stats look vulnerable – if not under attack.
And we leave with one other sobering fact:
Foreign-born residents of Nevada make up 19.2 percent of the state’s population and 23.5 percent of the labour force.
Of these workers it’s estimated that at least 10 percent are “sin documentos”, undocumented.
