by Calanit Atia
Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority provides valuable insights into travel trends from top international markets, including Canada, Mexico, UK, Germany, and Korea
- Fletch Brunelle, Vice President of Marketing, LVCVA, comments, “International travelers are vital for the destination, traditionally making up 14 percent of overall visitation. As part of our strategy to ensure the continued recovery and growth of that segment, we currently engage five offices around the world including Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, Germany, and Korea. Their in-depth knowledge of the unique trends, interests and travel patterns of each region helps deliver timely and tailored messaging to ensure Vegas stays top of mind.”
Canada
The Canadian dollar is holding steady at 0.73 cents against the U.S. dollar and Las Vegas remains #1 on Google’s Outbound Destination Demand (City) from Canada. There are over 100 tour operators and 5,000 travel agencies across Canada (15,000 travel agents). Those tour operators report a significant increase in Las Vegas sales, making Las Vegas the fastest recovered market for major Canadian tour operators. With over 120 weekly flights into Las Vegas from 7 gateways, most agencies book through Canadian airline & traditional tour operators. Expedia.ca is the number 1 online travel agency for Las Vegas.
Mexico
LasVegas was the most searched destination in Google by Mexicans in the last 12 months against main competitors such as Orlando, Miami, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
There are about 8,500 Travel Agencies in Mexico, with more than 86 tour companies that offer travel packages to the United States, approximately 8500 travel agencies (including around 58,400 travel agents), and 5 major online travel agencies. Tour operators in Mexico are increasingly including the different experiences available in Las Vegas in their packages aligning with Las Vegas’ promotional strategy.
The main months in which Mexicans travel are March and April (Holy Week), July (summer vacations), September (Independence Day), and December (end of the year vacations). Mexicans also take advantage of long weekends created by public holidays to travel. 75% are interested in short trips (less than 4 hours by air), and the typical duration of a stay is 3 to 4 nights, but it may extend to 5 nights on certain occasions.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) downgrading Mexico to Category 2 in air safety in May of 2021 remains one of the most important challenges for the Mexican market.
United Kingdom
Consumer confidence has risen slightly in light of the improving economic situation in the UK. Consumers are prioritizing spending money on experiences and holidays, rather than possessions. With the Pound vs Dollar at £1 = $1.23, spending on travel is continuing to rebound faster than all other areas of non-essential spending. Consumer card spending on travel grew by 24.3% year on year in March, the single biggest increase of any of the 13 main sectors tracked by Barclays. So travel enjoyed the second highest year on year rate of transaction growth in March at 10.5%.
UK preferred travel months are April to June, and September to November. The UK remains the largest market to the U.S. with 756,543 UK travelers entering the US so far this year; 61.13% higher than 2022. Average stay is 8.7 nights away, 4 for Las Vegas.
In 2023, consumers are looking to combine holidays to save on costs which enables them to spend longer at their destination. According to the Association of Independent Tour Operators (AITO), 88% of consumers want someone they can talk to for expert advice and guidance. 29% of customers are looking to book through a trusted tour operator compared to 2019. In 2021, the revenue of the travel agency, tour operator and related activities market in the United Kingdom increased by 13.3 percent. By 2027, revenue growth is expected to increase to 4.3 percent.
There are around 5081 travel agencies and Las Vegas remains in the top 3 US destinations for their top operators along with New York City and Orlando.
These travel agencies are looking to promote experience-based travel and looking to include attractions and experiences that set them apart from others, which is the perfect time to align with the growing entertainment and sporting options in Las Vegas.
Germany
German employment rates are the highest since 1990. The result is record bookings since the pandemic, with more money spent on travels. Online travel agencies grew fast during increased digitalization and Covid-19 restrictions. Germany has about 11,000 travel agencies and over 2300 tour operators.
Germans took 63 million holidays/trips of 5 days or longer in 2022. 63% traveled outside of Germany. Top destinations in 2023 are Thailand, Indonesia, Mexico, the UAE, and the US. In the US, Germans’ most popular travel destinations are New York City, Miami, and Las Vegas. They plan and book 3 to 5 months in advance with 67% planning to spend between 7 to 20 nights.
Their travel months are July, August, and September, and they trend towards package tours. The average stay for first timers is 17 to 20 nights as opposed to 14 to 16 nights for repeat visitors. When booking with a travel agency, they book 113 in advance; online, they book 79 days in advance. Overall travel expenditure in the US: in 2019: $7.57 million, in 2021: $2.27 million.
Korea
South Korea’s Consumer Price Index was 3.7% in Apr 2023.
When planning an international leisure trip, Koreans prefer travel blogs and online searches the most, though travel TV shows continue to have a large influence. Koreans prefer combined travel of relaxation and activity and the beach the most for their international holidays.
Las Vegas is ranked as the 5th most visited city in the US for Koreans. Peak months are July and August for the summer vacation and December thru February for winter. Gap travelers are emerging as a trend. Average length of stay is 2 nights. Flight and hotel booking windows are 31-60 days.
The number of outbound Korean tourists: overall in 2022 6.5 million, for the US 1 million. In 2021 overall was 1.2 million, US 200,000. These numbers are down from the Pre-Covid 2019 overall of 29 million with 3.3 million visiting the US. The number of travel agencies is down 13% from 23,000 in 2019 to 20,000 in 2023. Total revenue of the Korean travel industry is down 70%, from $7.4 billion in 2019 to $2.5 billion in 2022. Low flight frequency, high airfare, and staff shortages are some of the continuing challenges.
For additional information www.lvcva.com
Calanit Atia is an award winning event planner and entrepreneur. Air Force Veteran, Founder
and President of A to Z Events, Las Vegas DMC, Entertainment and Booth Activity Agency, and Speaker. She can be contacted at 702-212-2500, Info@AtoZevents.com, www.AtoZevents.com
