Las Vegas drew more than 40.8 million visitors in 2023, the destination’s highest single-year total since the pandemic decimated the state’s tourism market starting in 2020.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitor Authority (LVCVA) said Wednesday the market closed out the year with almost 3.4 million visitors in December, a 2.7 percent increase from a year ago. 

The 12-month total was 5.2 percent higher than in 2022 and was the largest yearly total since the Las Vegas area drew 42.5 million visitors in 2019. 

The LVCVA released the December and year-end visitation numbers during the Vegas Chamber’s Preview Las Vegas 2024 event on Wednesday, a week before the Gaming Control Board releases year-end gaming revenue figures.

“This was an epic year,” LVCVA CEO Steve Hill said in a presentation at Preview. He cited the “totality” of Las Vegas seeing a 20 percent year-over-year increase in convention and conference attendance, increased tourism and top-tier special events, including the inaugural Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Wells Fargo Securities gaming analyst Daniel Politzer told investors in a research note Wednesday that the visitation trends were consistent with commentary from resort operators.

“We view December as a solid month in Las Vegas, and a strong follow-up from a record November bolstered by Formula One,” Politzer wrote.

Records were set for average daily room rates in Las Vegas, which topped $191 a night, 12 percent higher than in 2022. Strip resorts averaged $204.42 a night, up 12.3 percent from a year ago.

Revenue per available room, an economic measure analysts use to gauge profitability, was $176.21 on the Strip, up almost 19 percent from 2022, and $159.73 citywide, up 18 percent.

Hotel occupancy in Las Vegas averaged 83.5 percent, up 4.3 percent from 2022.