Steve Hill isn’t glossing anything over.
“I have to explain things to folks as I really see it,” said the CEO of Visit Las Vegas.
“That has more credibility than skirting around it or glossing over it.”
And what Hill is seeing is the number of Canadians visiting Las Vegas plunging 25% so far this year compared to last.
“Honestly, it’s not as bad as it could have been,” admitted HIll.
“It could have really fallen off a cliff and visits by Canadians could have been down by 50%.”
To put that into perspective, in a typical year 1.4 million Canadians would jet off to Vegas for that unique combination of glitz, glamour and excitement of gambling, concerts, shows, drinking, dining and sports.
A 25% plunge puts Vegas on track to welcome 350,000 fewer Canadians this year or 1,150,000 total.
Some Canadians are shunning Vegas as part of the 'elbows up' movement, which sees Canadians boycotting American destinations, goods and services as US President Donald Trump's tariffs and 51st state quips prompted a trade war and hard feelings.
"What it will take (for Canadian visitation to rebound) is our federal governments getting along and being friends again," said Hill.
Hill was part of the Vegas sales mission that came to Vancouver this week to talk with reporters (including NowMedia Group), travel agents and travel suppliers like Air Canada Vacations and WestJet Vacations, which offer flight and hotel packages from numerous Canadian cities to Vegas.
Hill characterized the sales mission as an "encouragement tool" rather than an act of desperation.
WestJet is poised to start offering seasonal once-a-week non-stop flights on Oct. 30 between Kelowna and Las Vegas.
Last season, WestJet ended Kelowna-Vegas flights early as Trump amped up the trade war and travel to the US softened.
So, it will be interesting to see what happens for the 2025-26 season.
While Canada is Vegas' biggest international market, Canucks account for only 3% of overall visits.
But, Visit Las Vegas stresses that 3% is incredibly important because Canadians tend to stay longer and spend more than the bulk of visitors who drive in from California and Arizona.
Visit Las Vegas is also fighting for the small -- but important -- percentages that come from Mexico and the UK for the same reason.
"While the tariffs get figured out, there are still lots of reasons for Canadians to come to Vegas," pointed out Hill.
Those reasons range from the aforementioned things Vegas is famous for -- the fun of gambling, going to shows, eating and drinking and catching a game -- to more specific special events such as the new seasons of Las Vegas Golden Knights NHL hockey, Las Vegas Raiders NFL football, Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix car racing Nov. 20-22 and residency and one-of concerts by Bruno Mars, the Eagles, Back Street Boys, Dolly Parton, Janet Jackson, The Who, Stevie Nicks and Barry Manilow.
Overall, tourist traffic to Vegas is down 11% when comparing June 2024's 3.5 million visitors to June 2025's 3.1 million.
Most of that is Americans not visiting because of the general economic downturn and Vegas very much being the land of discretionary spending.
Vegas and US Travel are lobbying Washington pointing out that tariffs and federal policy have done real damage to tourism.
The tourism industry is being heard, according to Hill, but there's been no impact on tariffs.
"Right now, this is a downturn, not a crisis (like COVID or the great recession of the late 1990s)," summed up Hill.
"Canada and the US are too good a friends. We need each other. This won't last forever. I'm not worried about Vegas long-term because Vegas is Vegas and everyone wants to visit eventually. I'm not happy with this downturn, but I think it will be short and shallow."
