At Wednesday's Reno City Council meeting, the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority (RSCVA) presented its findings from a study of Reno tourism over the past fiscal year.
The agency found that gambling and Lake Tahoe are the two main draws to the area, and they project a 3% increase in the number of tourists for fiscal year 2026.
Last period, 3,778,468 people visited the Truckee Meadows, and the group expects 3,897,069 for FY26.
RSCVA President and CEO Mike Larragueta says this expected increase is due to Reno's growing reputation.
"We're definitely on the rise and becoming more well known, not only on the west coast, but in the central part of the [United] States and even on the east coast,"Â Larragueta said.
The RSCVA says most people are travelling in groups of between two and three people. Vice President of Marketing Christina Erny, CDME, says a lot of those groups are older millennials coming back to the area with their new families.
"They've come here over the years," Erny said. "Now they have kids. And they're bringing their kids to do the outdoor activities, go to the events, and they're bringing them along to experience it all with them."
Erny says this is a big reason why the average age of a Reno tourist in 2024 is 46.8, about a year and a half older than the year prior.
The agency reported an economic impact of $5.2 billion for 2023 - the last year with complete data.
Also, sports tourism is on the rise.
The new temporary track at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center generated $6 million in impact and 12,000 room nights at nearby hotels.
With 12 meets scheduled between December 2025 and February 2026, six of those hosted by the University of Nevada, Reno, Larragueta says he expects the track to boost economic activity even further.
"We're anticipating about 22,000 room nights in year two," he said. "And then year three, we're looking at up to 40,000, and by year five, up to 50,000."
Larragueta says there's demand for major events in sports like soccer or lacrosse, but they don't have fields available at the moment.
"We're working with a prior board member who is very passionate about flat fields," said Larragueta. "And we hope that becomes a reality in the near future."
The Reno Air Races leaving town for Roswell doesn't help matters. Larragueta says the RSCVA is exploring options to cover that empty weekend.
"We're always trying to identify new events," he said. "And we're definitely looking at that weekend as an opportunity to fill something that has a void."
Another interesting trend the RSCVA pointed out in their study is that hotel room inventory is expected to go up, but taxable revenue from those rooms will fall about 1.5%.
"We know that the room capacity is going up," Larragueta said. "But what's driving the overall revenue down is a lower average daily rate."
Average daily rate (ADR) is the average amount of revenue generated per room per night.
The United States Bowling Congress (USBC) will be at the National Bowling Stadium from March to July next year, which Larragueta says is another big moneymaker for the RSCVA.
"We're estimating over 10,000 teams and 80,000 room nights with an economic impact of over $80 million," he said.
