Las Vegas New Year’s Eve resort parties expected to draw 400K

An estimated 356,000 visitors are expected to be in Las Vegas for Sunday’s New Year’s Eve celebration and when they’re added with locals heading to the Strip and downtown Las Vegas, more than 400,000 are anticipated to ring in 2024.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority projected $411.4 million in visitor spending for the long weekend and a total economic impact including direct, indirect and induced spending of $727 million. Direct spending is money brought to the destination by visitors while indirect and induced spending involves money respent from the direct spending.

Thousands are expected to jam the resort corridor beginning Sunday night.

Like last year, Las Vegas is benefiting from New Year’s Eve falling on a weekend.

Hotel room rates for the weekend are higher than normal and the city now has more rooms available thanks to the openings of Durango and Fontainebleau earlier this month.

Room capacity up 2.5%

Southern Nevada’s room capacity is up about 2.5 percent over last year to around 156,100 rooms.

A survey of room rates conducted Friday indicated the average nightly price per room for the weekend is $261.76. The Las Vegas Review-Journal averaged room rates for a Friday-through-Monday stay at 87 rooms based on rates posted on Hotels.com.

There wasn’t a single hotel offering rates under $100 a night, with the least-expensive stays offered at the Orleans, at $110 a night, and the Arizona Charlies’ property on Boulder Highway, at $119 a night.

Among the highest rates offered for the weekend are at the Palms, $647 a night; Red Rock Resort, $603; Bellagio, $559; and Paris-Las Vegas, $532.

Among the new properties, Fontainebleau is offering rooms for an average of $416 a night and Durango is listed as being sold out.

The average daily room rate for the month of January 2023, according to the LVCVA, was $191.62, with an average rate of $205.70 on the Strip and $104.58 in downtown Las Vegas.

The New Year’s Eve 2023 party went off without a hitch, even though high winds and rain showers threatened to dampen the event an hour before the fireworks show on a Saturday night.

January normally is one of the year’s strongest months for room rates because the city hosts major trade-show events.

For the first 10 months of 2023, January had the fourth-highest monthly room rates, trailing those for March, September and October. November’s average rate, expected to be announced by the LVCVA this week, is expected to be the highest of the year because of the presence of the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix.

CES begins Jan. 9

CES is scheduled to begin Jan. 9 in 2024 — one of the latest starting dates ever for that show. Both the three-day World of Concrete trade show and the four-day Shooting, Hunting and Outdoors Trade show open Jan. 23.

Next year will be different from any other with the arrival of the first-ever Las Vegas Super Bowl at Allegiant Stadium on Feb. 11. National Football League officials are expected to begin filling hotel rooms in January.

The city’s New Year’s Eve celebration, dubbed “America’s Party” with a theme of “More in ’24,” is expected to be bigger than ever with a ninth resort — Fontainebleau, on the Strip’s north end — being added as a launching point for the eight-minute fireworks display that will usher in the new year.

In addition to the Fontainebleau, pyrotechnic displays are expected to launch from rooftop locations at MGM Grand, Aria, Planet Hollywood, Caesars Palace, Treasure Island, The Venetian, Resorts World and the Strat, according to a news release announcing details of the show.

The show will be set to music, kicking off with the traditional New Year’s song “Auld Lang Syne” before diving into pop and rock hits like “24K Magic” by Bruno Mars, “Get the Party Started” by Pink and “Dream On” by Aerosmith. The full set can be heard on KOMP 92.3 and 97.1 The Point.

It is taking five days to install the pyrotechnics on resort rooftops, manned by 66 pyrotechnicians and more than 90 additional security, engineers and hotel personnel, event organizers said.

Downtown festivities

Downtown Las Vegas will also join the revelry. The Fremont Street Experience will host its “NYE Time of Your Life Festival” with live performances on three stages from Third Eye Blind, Big Gigantic, Blackstreet, Kid n’ Play and others. Pre-sale tickets are available for $50.

According to the city of Las Vegas, Interstate 15 offramps at Flamingo Road in both directions will be shut down at 5 p.m. on New Year’s Eve. Road closures on Las Vegas Boulevard from Spring Mountain Road to Tropicana Avenue will begin at 6:30. The Strip will be completely shut down to all vehicle traffic by 8.

To help partygoers travel safely, the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada is offering free rides on all transit routes from 6 p.m. on New Year’s Eve until 9 a.m. on New Year’s Day. Detour and route details are available online at rtcsnv.com/newyears.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X. Review-Journal reporter McKenna Ross contributed to this report.