Las Vegas Locals Say Hidden Fees, Less Value Are Driving Away Tourists

LAS VEGAS—Lately, Andy Zimmerman has seen a new type of visitor walking along the fabled Las Vegas Strip looking for the old Vegas magic.

He calls them “one-and-none.”

“They come to Vegas. They’re displeased with the cost. They’ll make one trip, and they won’t come back,” Zimmerman, chief financial officer for the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop in Las Vegas, told The Epoch Times.

Bright flashing signs still light up the heart of Las Vegas as they have for decades, but this year, their glow has not brought the usual crowds to the famous Strip.

Between January and October, more than 32 million people visited the city, a 7.6 percent drop from 2024, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

July dropped 12 percent year-over-year, marking the sharpest decline. That month, just over 3 million people visited—nearly half a million fewer than the previous July.

Zimmerman recalls a time when the city crackled with energy and its hotels and casinos were always full. Now, he finds that tourists are increasingly discouraged by the high cost of visiting the Strip in a tight economy.

With wallets tighter and hidden fees lurking at every turn, the city is becoming harder to sell to visitors at home and abroad, he said.

Las Vegas was “built on value,” Zimmerman said, and it was once a place where anyone, regardless of how much money they had, could visit and feel like a high roller.

Visitors now have to pay resort and parking fees, as well as additional charges for early check-in and basic services.

Local businessman Gill Hayon said visitors no longer feel they are getting good value for their money.

“Vegas was a town of comps [free goods and services],” he told The Epoch Times. “And if you were gambling, you were getting incentives to come in.”

“So there was value added. You could come here and have your dream vacation, no matter what budget you were on.”

Zimmerman said that since the COVID-19 pandemic, corporate pricing strategies at the big casino hotels have rewritten the rules of value on the Strip, and everyday tourists have begun to react to the higher prices.

“The hotels don’t do a good job of recognizing their customer base,” he said. “There are all kinds of added fees. The customers aren’t used to it.”

Not long ago, a breakfast buffet might cost $4.99 or less, and free meals and rooms were a familiar bonus. Today, if you find yourself longing for chicken parmesan at the legendary Flamingo Las Vegas hotel and casino, get ready to part with at least $51 before tip. A three-night stay that seems like a steal at $289.20 on Priceline suddenly swells to $342.20 after resort fees, parking, and taxes appear on the final bill.

“From what I’m hearing, [some hotels will] charge $8 or $10 for a bottle of water and similar items. It just upsets people,” said Zimmerman, who has lived in Las Vegas for 35 years.

The busy pawn shop where Zimmerman works is well known from the History Channel’s hit show “Pawn Stars.”  However, Zimmerman said fame alone does not guarantee tourist foot traffic.

Meanwhile, although Jonathan Jossel, CEO of the Plaza Hotel and Casino, agrees that Las Vegas should make sure visitors feel they get good value for their money, he believes the media has overstated the drop in tourism.

“We saw record increases in tourism in the last few years after the pandemic,” Jossel told The Epoch Times via email. He added that record increases year after year aren’t sustainable.

“There’s a saying that trees don’t grow to the sky, and just because we aren’t experiencing record levels of tourism right now doesn’t mean Las Vegas is dead. In fact, the Plaza has been very busy this year,” Jossel said.

“We also need to give visitors a reason to come to Las Vegas for a vacation, not just for special events. Before Las Vegas had sports teams, F1 [Formula 1 racing], or headliner concerts, people came to Vegas to gamble, eat, drink, and have fun,” Jossel said.

In recent years, the city has worked to boost tourism and grow its economy by offering more than just gambling. New attractions and sporting events have played a big part.

In 2020, Las Vegas welcomed the NFL’s former Oakland Raiders, and the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights started playing there in 2017.

From Dec. 4 to Dec. 13, Las Vegas was host to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo for the 40th year, drawing thousands of visitors and generating millions in revenue.

While tourism on the Strip struggled in 2025, gaming revenues rose by $652.1 million, a 2 percent boost for the fiscal year, according to Gambling Insider, which also reported that gambling brought in $1.2 billion across Nevada, 5.5 percent more than the year before. Baccarat alone drew in more than $115 million in revenue.

Canadian Travelers

Canadians make up a small but significant share of Las Vegas visitors. In 2024, they represented 3.6 percent of all travelers to the city, according to industry publication Canadian Gaming Business.

This year, visitation numbers have been down and flights reduced.

The total number of people traveling to anywhere in America from Canada was down 22.1 percent year-over-year in June, according to Statistics Canada data.

Air Canada has discontinued some flights to Las Vegas, as well as to the United States in general.

“We think we’re going to restore some of that capacity gradually,” Mark Galardo, the company’s EVP and chief commercial officer, said during the 2nd quarter earnings call.

“But, right now, we continue to plan an environment where things stay the same, where there’s no real improvement in the overall demand,” he said.

“At this time, we continue to think that the situation that we’re in will continue all the way through the end of the year.”

Zimmerman hopes the decline in Canadian tourism doesn’t last long.

“The United States and Canada will come up with their trade deals, and things will kind of start to move forward,” he said.

“I love Canada. I love going up there. I love the people. Hopefully, the political environment will calm down next year.”

Hayon said that if Las Vegas hopes to thrive, it cannot cling to a profit-at-all-costs business model forever.

“It’s really about maintaining or reviving what Vegas used to mean for people. You connect with your customer again and ensure that you’re able to provide the experiences—not only ones they can afford but those that create a demand for them to return,” he said.

The Epoch Times reached out to major hotel casinos MGM and Caesar’s Palace on the Strip for comment, but neither company responded.

Las Vegas Mayor Shelley Berkley also did not respond to The Epoch Times’ request for an interview.

Jennie Catanzariti, who works at Bellies to Babies, a children’s store near the Strip, said local businesses are concerned that fewer visitors are arriving, both domestically and from other countries.

People are being more careful with their money now, she told The Epoch Times, and “they actually have a budget on vacation, which is different.”

Catanzariti said foot traffic this year has been low, but would be much worse if not for the sale of Jellycats, a popular children’s plush toy that is also a favorite among young adults.

“They’re just coming in for something that we used to sell on the side,” she said.

“So far, I’ve only had three clothing orders online this morning,” Catanzariti added. “That’s low for Christmas. I feel like it’s across the board.”

Michael Park, a small business owner, has played an active role in the city’s arts district, an area that has recently seen new housing development.

He believes local businesses, rather than big corporations focused mainly on the Strip, will help guide the city’s economic future.

“This neighborhood is in no way insular. It is almost in active rebellion to a feeling of corporatization that has been crowding in,” Park told The Epoch Times.

“It started on a very grassroots level about 20 years ago with a true art focus. There was a pent-up demand in the community to have this sort of walkable, more livable, communitarian vibe experience.”

Hayon believes there is room for independent businesses to grow and attract tourists. The arts district is shaping up to be a significant cultural hub for Las Vegas, he said.

“If anything, independent and small businesses are moving in at a higher rate. I think that, generally, Vegas has had a couple of issues, mainly relating to who’s making the decisions on the Strip right now.”

The net impact of the fee increase has widened the affordability gap for a Vegas vacation, Hayon said.

“It’s not necessarily bad management or bad marketing. I think the marketing is good. But I think the people who are making the decisions are no longer connected with the customer.”

“You’ve had a situation where properties traded at higher and higher prices, away from people in the community to people outside the community,” he said. “They were buying into a cash flow.”

Hope for Rebound

Zimmerman said that to bring tourists back, Las Vegas needs to focus again on the basics that made it famous.

In a word: value.

“I think you have to simplify the pricing. People, when they walk in the door, need to know what they’re paying for and not have these add-ons,” he said.

“I think the casinos are starting to recognize what they have done, making changes so that in 2026, they’ll work harder to bring people back. Hopefully, the hotels will have learned their lesson this year.”

And when the chips are down, “Vegas always comes back,” Zimmerman said.

David Horn, general manager and vice president at Durango Casino and Resort, about eight miles from the Strip, remains optimistic about Las Vegas even though tourism numbers fell this year.

“The city still has a lot to offer from a world-class tourism standpoint,” Horn told The Epoch Times. “There’s still a lot of amenities here. From a national brand standpoint, Vegas still has merit and value.”

On Dec. 15, Durango unveiled its south property expansion, which includes one of the city’s largest high-limit slot rooms, a multi-level covered garage with free parking and valet, and a new casino space.

Horn said casino resorts that serve local customers have performed better than the large companies on the Strip.

He believes it is good for Las Vegas to have different types of businesses, but improving the customer experience matters most.

“The economy is in flux. Supply and demand changes,” Horn said. “You make those adjustments, and you see the return. We have been pretty steadfast on what our value pricing is.”

He said Durango invested real effort in understanding its customers, embracing a classic branding style and rolling out irresistible deals: $1.99 margaritas, $3 beers, breakfast specials, and nostalgic cheeseburgers that transport people to simpler, more comforting days.

“I think you’re going to see more of that. I already know. I see the changes on some of these other operators, even the bigger ones,” Horn said.