Las Vegas saw an uptick in visitors last month, largely due to four sold-out BTS concerts and several other major events.
Nearly 3.5 million people visited Sin City in May, a 2 percent increase on the same month last year, according to data from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, reported by Fox 5 Vegas.
Hotel occupancy in Vegas reached 84.7 percent for the month while the average daily room rate cost about $211, up 6.3 percent compared to last year. Additionally, the revenue per room — which measures how much hotels make from each room — hit $178.40, up 8.5 percent. The group said both figures reached record levels for May.
Conventions also contributed to the boom in visitors with 586,300 people attending conferences in May, up 14.7 percent from the same period last year, data showed.
The South Korean boyband’s fan base, known as ARMY, flocked to Las Vegas for the four sold-out shows last month as the group returned to live performances after completing their mandatory military service. Billboards outside hotels on the Strip read “Borahaegas,” which is a nickname given to Las Vegas by the group and their fans.
There were several noteworthy events in addition to the BTS WORLD TOUR “ARIRANG” concerts at Allegiant Stadium. Last month, Vegas also saw a citywide BTS THE CITY fan festival, a sold-out Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) 30th anniversary event and the Vegas Golden Knights Conference Finals, which saw Sin City’s hockey team lose the Stanley Cup to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Clark County, which includes Vegas and the surrounding areas, also saw increased revenue through gaming, which totaled $1.2 billion in revenue in May, up 7.4 percent from May 2025.
Meanwhile, gaming solely on the Las Vegas Strip reached $807.9 million, up 13.2 percent year over year, according to the data.
The boost comes as Las Vegas has seen a drop in annual visitors ever since the pandemic. Sin City attracted an estimated 38.5 million tourists in 2025, which was about a 7.5 percent decrease compared to 2024 — and the sharpest drop in annual visitors since the pandemic began in 2020, according to Travel Weekly.
However, some local officials attributed the decline in visitors last year to policies enacted by President Donald Trump’s administration.
Last June, Sin City saw just under 3.1 million tourists — an 11 percent decrease compared to the same period in 2024.
Data from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority showed a 13 percent reduction in international travelers and a roughly 15 percent decrease in hotel occupancy during that time.
Ted Pappageorge, the Secretary-Treasurer of the influential Culinary Workers Union in Vegas, dubbed the situation last summer a “Trump slump.”
“If you tell the rest of the world they’re not welcome, they are going to listen. Our members are telling us that they’re quite nervous, and that’s why they’re calling it a Trump slump,” Pappageorge said.
Las Vegas Mayor Shelley Berkley also blamed the rising cost of food, hotel rooms and attractions for the decrease in tourism.
“People are feeling that they’re getting nickel and dimed, and they’re not getting value for their dollar,” Berkley said, adding that business owners need to see if they can make things more affordable.
“That’s all we want. We want them to come and have a good time, spend their money, go home,” the mayor said last year. “Then come back in six months.”
