“We want you back:” Las Vegas wraps up successful ‘welcome’ mission

While many Canadians are still hitting pause on U.S. travel plans, Las Vegas and hotel partners from the destination are actively making it clear that they want and miss visitors from Canada.

“You do have a lot of friends in Las Vegas, and you are welcome. I think it’s very important to make sure Canadians feel welcome,” shared Derek Stevens, the owner & CEO of Circa Resort & Casino, The Golden Gate and The D, taking the stage last night in Toronto during the final stop of the LVCVA Eastern Canada Sales Mission. “If I can do one thing today, I’d like to convey to all of you that this is really a welcome mission to make sure Canadians know that you’re welcome in Las Vegas. We miss you and we want you back.”

To win back Canadian visitors, Stevens launched an At Par dollar-exchange promotion in January, combatting not only a low loonie but helping to drive momentum for visitors from Canada.

“Normally in a three month period we would have had about 15,000 Canadians come through our properties and in this past 90 days we’ve done over 50,000,” Stevens noted. “It’s been terrific. For me, growing up in Detroit and going over to Windsor, I got to see At Par campaigns often, particularly when the exchange rate got a little out of whack like it does now. We wanted to put that offer out there, but really for the purpose of presenting a message that says, ‘hey, Canada, we miss you in Las Vegas and you’ve got friends out here in the desert.’ It’s not just words. We’re putting an offer along with those words.”

A strong showing at the Toronto event: Yazdan Bakhtiary, Air Canada Vacations; Laura Hernandez, LVCVA Canada; David Han, LVCVA Canada; Diego Gantiva, LVCVA Canada; Valene Valdez, Venetian; Robin Hudgens, Resorts World; Brea Williams, LVCVA; Karly Melo, LVCVA Canada; Fletch Brunelle, LVCVA; Stephanie Glanzer, MGM Resorts International; Derek Stevens, Circa Resort & Casino; Natalee Griego, Sphere; Michael Printy, Circa Resort & Casino; Molly Castano, LVCVA; Jennifer Berkos, Fontainebleau Las Vegas; Sara Puliafico, MGM Resorts International; Eloy Enriquez, Virgin Hotels Las Vegas; Bruce Parkinson, Air Canada Vacations; Kenna Anavisca, Caesars Entertainment; Jessica Smid, TravelBrands; Andrea Di Profio, Porter Airlines;  Melissa Harley, West Jet Vacations; Shannon Cunningham, West Jet Vacations; Charmaine Singh, LVCVA Canada

More recently, MGM Resorts started piloting its first all-inclusive packages on the Strip at Luxor and Excalibur, which has also been popular for the Canadian market.

“We wanted to find ways to show value and savings with everything that is going on, and at the same time, make it easy for someone to book and enjoy their stay,” said Stephanie Glanzer, chief sales officer & SVP, MGM Resorts.

While numbers are down from before, Fletch Brunelle, vice president of marketing for the LVCVA, told TravelPress Today that Canadians represent about 25% of all international visitors to Las Vegas.

“It’s down 18%, but it’s still 1.2 million, which by the way matches Mexico, so those two markets alone are 50% of our international visitation so despite it being down a bit, it’s still really important, our most important international market,” he added.

The Toronto event featured panel discussions with 10 hoteliers and attractions in town from Vegas, alongside Canadian airlines and tour operators packaging and offering Vegas like TravelBrands, Air Canada/Air Canada Vacations, Porter Airlines and WestJet/WestJet Vacations.

Top sellers from 2025 were recognized with trips to Vegas. Seen here are: Stephanie Glanzer, MGM Resorts International; Abe Vaziri, Amex Travel; Jo Castro, Breakaway Travel; Tran Le, Worldgo Travel; Derek Stevens, Circa Resort & Casino; Valene Valdez, The Venetian and Kenna Anavisca, Caesars Entertainment

Notably, Bruce Parkinson, area sales manager at Air Canada Vacations, revealed that special Vegas promotions are dropping on May 4. As for selling tips, agents can now place vacation packages on hold outside of 28 days.

“Clients can not put packages on hold — this is a travel agent exclusive — this is the only time I think that the agents want the prices to go up. After you put that on hold you’ve locked in that price for your clients,” he said.

Meanwhile, Shannon Cunningham, director of agency sales for WestJet Vacations, shared that there’s been a real pickup in flight bookings to Vegas over the last four weeks.

As for hot new openings, The Vanderpump Hotel is scheduled to open in May.

“188 rooms, boutique property, right there on the heart of the Strip,” said Kenna Anavisca, Caesars Entertainment. “It’s going to be amazing.”

In addition to No Doubt and interactive Wizard of Oz screenings, Sphere will also feature performances by Metallica kicking off in October.

“We continue to evolve what the destination is,” added Brunelle, citing remodels and refurbishments at the MGM Grand and The Venetian. “There’s always reinvention and reinvestment.”

Shaping up to change the skyline of Vegas is the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas.

“Where the former volcano was for The Mirage, they’re building a guitar-shaped tower that will have 700 rooms, most of them suites. The skyline continues to change. When you think about not just this, but the Sphere has changed the skyline and entertainment in Las Vegas. The continued evolution of the destination is just astonishing.”

During the evening, travel advisors had the chance at taking part in trivia quizzes to be submitted online for a shot at winning great prizes, plus the top three sellers from 2025 were recognized and awarded trips to Vegas complete with airfare, accommodations and destination experiences.