Nevada tourism hits record high in 1997 - barely

Monday, April 20, 1998 | 5:48 a.m.

The state Tourism Commission said the tourists helped to fuel Nevada's economy with nearly $7.4 billion in casino revenue and nearly $8 million in room tax collections.

During the last three months of 1997, nearly 10.1 million tourists visited Nevada. That included 7.4 million people who came to Las Vegas and another 1.1 million who came to Reno.

Casino revenue topped $1.7 billion and room tax collections were about $1.9 million for the quarter.

Although the year's room tax receipts were up over 1996, the last quarter collections were down 8.2 percent. And tourist spending was down during the first few months of 1998, the commission reported.

Convention attendance contributed the greatest growth - more than 1 million delegates in the final quarter of 1997 alone for a 17.2 percent jump over the same quarter a year earlier.

"We can look for continuing growth in this area," said Lt. Gov. Lonnie Hammargren, who chairs the Tourism Commission.

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