ForwardKeys data shows impact of Las Vegas shooting

Latest data from ForwardKeys has shown the impact of the mass shooting in Las Vegas on flight bookings to the destination.

Analysis of around 17 million flight booking transactions a day revealed a sharp drop in bookings following the October 1 attack, in which 58 people were shot dead and nearly 500 wounded by a lone gunman.

The fall, however, was more dramatic on domestic US travel than on international travel.

In the eight weeks prior to the tragedy, domestic air bookings for Las Vegas were already down 7% on the equivalent period the year before, whilst international bookings were 2% up.

In the three weeks following the shooting, domestic flight reservations fell 21% and international reservations fell 16%, compared to the equivalent period in 2016.

The worst domestic drop was in bookings from San Francisco and New York. In the eight weeks prior to the tragedy, they were 6% down and 3% down respectively; in the three weeks post, they were 33% down and 29% down.

In international markets, the most dramatic swing was in bookings from Asia Pacific, which were 10% up prior to the massacre and fell to 10% down after it.

Bookings from the Middle East were already 26% down and they fell to 41% down, benchmarked on the equivalent period in 2016.

The analysis also suggested a longer term impact on the destination, with bookings for air travel to Las Vegas from November 1 to April 30 behind where they were at this point last year.

Prior to the tragedy, domestic bookings were running 10% behind; now they are 14% behind.

International bookings prior to the tragedy were 1% ahead; now they are 2% behind.

In almost every source market, with the exception of Australia and Brazil, bookings for Las Vegas have slowed.

ForwardKeys CEO Olivier Jager said: "Looking at the current situation, one can only feel sympathy. What has happened to the victims of the shooting is absolutely shocking and tragic.

"One also feels sorry for all those people who work in Las Vegas too, they are dedicated to showing visitors a good time and it must be very hard to keep doing that in such awful circumstances.

"Nevertheless, whilst reservations for the coming six months have fallen back; it is not a certainty that the market will stay down. If the US economy picks up; if there are no more similar incidents and if there is a brilliant promotional campaign by Las Vegas, it is possible that the situation can be turned around."