Las Vegas Is Facing a Slump in European Tourism After Canadian Exodus—Can Its Housing Market Survive?

Las Vegas could face a downturn in international tourism from Europe over rising tensions between the United States and European countries, experts say—just weeks after Sin City's housing market showed strong signs of a comeback.

The Nevada hot spot has already seen a significant decline in tourism from Canada stemming from President Donald Trump’s international tariff policies that saw many travelers boycotting the U.S. in protest against the measures, as well as his later comments suggesting that the nation should become America's 51st state.

Some are now suggesting that there could be a similar slump in visits from European nations, specifically those threatened with a new 10% tariff by Trump over their lack of support for the United States' acquisition of Greenland.

After raising the prospect of taking over Greenland for national security reasons, Trump said on Jan. 17 that he would impose new tariffs by Feb. 1 on eight NATO allies that sent troops to the island in the wake of his comments.

Those countries are Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland.

He warned that rate would climb to 25% on June 1 if no deal was in place for the acquisition of Greenland by the United States, although he later walked back the proposal after what he described on his Truth Social account as a "very productive meeting" with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.

Still, some are now warning that the ongoing tensions between the U.S. and its European allies could have ramifications on the nation's tourism, particularly when it comes to hot spots where the local economies revolve around a large, and very steady, influx of international visitors.

"Any barrier to international visitation, whether geopolitical tension, policy uncertainty, or added entry barriers, might impact Las Vegas," Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority President and CEO Steve Hill told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Political science professor Keith Smith, who teaches at the University of the Pacific, told News 3 that the "more hostility" that exists between nations, the "less likely it is that people in Europe are going to want to come and spend time in the United States."

Las Vegas is already experiencing a decline in tourism, with data provided by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority in November 2025 indicating that the number of visitors to Sin City had fallen by 5.2% year over year.

Hotel occupancy during that period also slumped by two percentage points, declining to 79.4% from 81.4%.

However, Stephen Miller, an economics professor and research director with the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, tells Realtor.com® that there is no concrete evidence Trump's remarks about tariffs will have a real-world effect on Europeans traveling to Las Vegas.

In fact, Air France plans to begin operating three nonstop flights per week between Paris and Las Vegas starting in mid-April.

How tourism affects the Las Vegas housing market

Local real estate agents are watching closely for how a potential downturn might impact housing in the area.

Robert Little, Las Vegas area resident and real estate agent at Re/Max Advantage, says that, thus far, there is little evidence Sin City's market will suffer as a result of a slowdown in tourism.

"While there has been some recent discussion about international tourism to Las Vegas slowing, I personally have not seen that translate into less demand in our real estate market," he tells Realtor.com.

Similarly, while fewer tourists may be visiting Vegas, Realtor.com economist Jiayi Xu says that the city "consistently ranks among the top 25 U.S. markets attracting overseas buyers over the past few years.

"In 2025, Las Vegas placed 23rd nationally and 6th among Western U.S. markets, highlighting its continued appeal to international purchasers."

In 2025, 0.97% of international traffic on Realtor.com was directed to Las Vegas listings—essentially unchanged from 0.96% in 2024, but below the 1.26% share recorded in 2019. 

Canadian connection

Meanwhile, interest from Canadian home shoppers in Las Vegas did not decline, rather it increased.

"Canadians continue to be the largest source of international traffic to Las Vegas listings on Realtor.com," says Xu.

In 2025, 41.3% of Realtor.com's international search traffic to Las Vegas came from Canada, up from 38.2% in 2024 and 37.4% in 2019 (pre-pandemic). 

Home sales in Las Vegas haven't been significantly impacted by the Canadian travel boycott either, at least according to Little.

"From my perspective on the ground, buyer interest has stayed consistent, and I haven’t seen any noticeable slowdown tied to changes in international travel," Little says.

Indeed, despite the ebb of Canadian visitors to Vegas in the latter half of 2025, home prices in the city hit a record high in November in what many interpreted as a clear sign of a revived market.

The November median list price for existing single-family homes "sold" in Southern Nevada was $488,995, according to Las Vegas Realtors®. That's a 1.9% increase from October 2025, when the median list price of single-family homes "sold" was $474,370.

Vegas also recorded a 29.2% increase in year-over-year inventory, according to the Realtor.com December 2025 Monthly Housing Market Trends Report, the third highest in the nation. The median list price also held steady, dropping just 0.6% from December 2024.

Canadian visitation to Las Vegas fell an estimated 24% last year, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

To entice Canadian visitors back, three downtown Las Vegas casinos—Circa, The D Las Vegas, and Golden Gate—last week unveiled an “At Par” program that treats each Canadian dollar as equivalent to one U.S. dollar for hotel rooms, gaming, and drinks.

As of Jan. 27 at 10 a.m, the Canadian dollar was worth $0.73 in U.S. currency.

Whether that's enough to lure Canadian visitors back to Sin City or not remains to be seen, but for the real estate market, Little says, "Tourism trends and housing demand don’t always move together, and right now the fundamentals driving people to move to Southern Nevada are still very much in place."