Canadian tourism in Las Vegas on downward trend, meets 2006 levels

LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — New data shared Tuesday shows Canadian visitors to Las Vegas are down 20 percent from last year.

That’s according to the year-end report from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. Canadian airline capacity has fallen 35 to 40 percent. The decline has pushed visitor numbers to 2006 levels, with 181,000 visitors coming to Las Vegas. It is a downward trend that could last several more years.

Tourism officials said several factors may be making the United States less welcoming to some international visitors, including increased national park pass prices, higher visa fees and tariff negotiations.

“We hope to see continued improvement, but there also needs to be improvement in consumer sentiment and improvement in our international outreach. And so far, we’re not seeing a lot of that, but we’re hopeful,” said Steve Hill, CEO and president of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

Hill says they’ve taken a few sales missions up to Canada.