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Visit Las Cruces staff said during the Monday, May 12, 2025, city council work session that the many travel industry professionals believe travel is back to pre-pandemic levels of tourism, according to a news release.
The City Council received updates from Visit Las Cruces and the 2025 New Mexico legislative session during the work session. Visit Las Cruces is funded by the city’s lodger’s tax, which charges 5% per room per night.
In Fiscal Year 2024, the city’s lodger’s tax revenue was $2.8 million, according to the news release.
According to a New Mexico Tourism Department’s report, visitor spending in Doña Ana County was $521.3 million and visitation sustained 8.4% of all jobs within the county, the news releasee states.
Visit Las Cruces staff said they anticipate a bump in the motorcoach market that used to have a large presence in Las Cruces but moved to larger cities in the last few years, according to the news release. Now, Visit Las Cruces anticipates reentering the motorcoach convention market through 2028.
Councilors also received an update on the 2025 New Mexico Legislative Session from Chief Administrative Officer Barbara Bencomo and the City’s lobbyist, Larry Horan.
During the 60-day legislative session, legislators introduced 1,182 bills. Horan said he tracked 142 different pieces of legislation that were specific to the City of Las Cruces.
House Bill 8, an omnibus crime package that passed and was signed into law by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, included several pieces of legislation including criminal competency and treatment, competency restoration, the prohibition of firearm conversion devices, additional sentencing for fentanyl trafficking, changes to DWI blood testing and progressive penalties for motor vehicle theft.
Horan also highlighted housing and homelessness reduction initiatives including the $110 million statewide funding that’s expected to benefit Las Cruces and Senate Bill 267 on housing application fees that will protect renters by capping application and late fees, according to the news release.
Additional funding approved during the legislative session includes $12 million in Rural Air Service Grants, $1 million for the Las Cruces Air Show and $200 million for statewide water projects. The City of Las Cruces also received more than $13.8 million in funding for capital project priorities including the Fire Department's Mobile Integrated Health/mental crisis response facility, the Police Department's Real-Time Crime Center, the Paseos Verdes and Amador Crossing housing projects, and the Branigan Library renovation and expansion, according to the news release.
