It was in 2008, the trough of the Great Recession of 2007-2009, that Las Vegas hosted one of the four occasions for which the destination has been the site of the event. It also during this period that Las Vegas—which felt the impact of a weakened domestic travel market—made a decided move to strengthen its international position and market share so that it could better withstand the effects of downturns in the U.S. economy and in domestic visitation to the city.
One result of this decision is that Las Vegas hosted IPW just five years after the 2008 event, and is going to do so again this year. (See chart in following article for a list of IPW host cities over the years.)
Has the strategy worked? As the table below shows, during the 10-year window following IPW 2008, Las Vegas has increased its overall visitor numbers but, more important, insofar as its standing internationally is concerned, the international share of the overall number of visitors to Las Vegas has gone from 12 percent in 2009 to 13.8 percent in 2018—the most recent year for which up-to-date data are readily available. Moreover, this means that there was a 15 percent increase in international share* of the total during the same period.
Note: Table prepared by INBOUND. Sources did not necessarily use same methodology.
Sources: Statista, and Global City Travel (GCT) data model from Tourism Economics
* Also: International increased by 1.44 million or 32.8 percent increase; Overall increased by 5.77 million or 15.9 percent increase.
