Las Vegas visitor volume, airline passenger count soar

Gary Thompson

Wednesday, Nov. 17, 1999 | 10:54 a.m.

The good times just keep rolling for the Las Vegas gaming and entertainment industry.

Visitor volume and airline passenger traffic are reaching record numbers, putting Southern Nevada on a pace to attract 34 million people this year, up 10 percent from 1998.

The Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority reported today that more than 2.9 million people visited Las Vegas in September, up 16.3 percent from September 1998 and the biggest increase since 1994.

On Tuesday, McCarran International Airport officials said 3.1 million air travelers passed through McCarran gates in October, a whopping 15.9 percent more than in October 1998 and the first time in history passenger traffic topped the 3 million mark.

McCarran officials also said average daily seat capacity by all airlines is up 14 percent for November, the 14th consecutive month of increases. National Airlines, the new Las Vegas-based carrier that began flying in May, accounts for 42.9 percent of the increased daily seats.

The latest numbers follow last week's news that Strip gaming win soared 41 percent in September, while statewide gaming revenue hit a record monthly total of $819.5 million.

Credit Suisse First Boston gaming analyst David Anders said the numbers are "very, very positive" for Las Vegas casino operators.

"All these numbers really indicate Las Vegas is doing it again," Anders said. "The new supply of mega-resorts has done an outstanding job of stimulating visitation. And what these figures also should do is allay investor fears that the first quarter of 2000 is going to be difficult."

"Obviously, the numbers are very good," said Joe Coccigmiglio, top gaming analyst for Prudential Securities. "The growth in airline passengers is exceeding the growth in room capacity, and that's a good trend."

As of Sept. 30, the Las Vegas area hotel and motel room count totaled 120,144, up 13.5 percent from a year earlier.

"October is a very strong period overall for Las Vegas, so my general sense is that Las Vegas will do better now during busy periods but it will be tougher for the overall market during softer periods, such as the first few weeks of December," Coccimiglio said. "In other words, the seasonality will become more pronounced.

"During the busy periods in the past, there were customers who were shut out of the market because there weren't enough rooms. Now with the extra rooms, the market can take in that extra demand. But you have more rooms to fill during the soft periods," he said.

Another analyst believes an increase in load factors for air carriers serving Las Vegas will keep them from pulling planes out of the market during slower periods.

"These numbers are consistent with what we've been saying all year, that Las Vegas is in the early phase of a massive visitor and economic boom fueled by strong increases in air service," said Dave Ehlers, chairman of Las Vegas Investment Advisors Inc.

"All through 1999, no matter what the increase in available seat capacity, the increase in passenger counts consistently exceeded the seats being added," Ehlers said. "That means load factors were rising, which drives yields, which drives economic reasons for adding seats. In short, the carriers' profit margins are rising.

"We'd be uncertain about the outlook if the arrivals and departures increases were trailing seat increases. But that's not the case," Ehlers said.

The LVCVA said that through September, Las Vegas visitor volume is up 10.8 percent, or nearly 2.5 million more people than came here in the first nine months of 1998.

With the opening of Paris Las Vegas in September, room inventory jumped to 120,444 from 106,096 rooms in September 1998. Average citywide hotel and motel occupancy in September stood at 89.6 percent, compared with 85.9 percent in September 1998. For other major cities in the United States, average hotel and motel occupancy levels hover around 64 percent, the LVCVA said.

"A few factors influenced the tremendous spike in visitor volume in September," said Rossi Ralenkotter, vice president of marketing for the LVCVA. "Paris opened in early September, and that event was followed by a strong Labor Day weekend. The Oscar de la Hoya-Felix Trinidad fight on Sept. 18 encouraged travel to Las Vegas that weekend. The month's convention attendance was also notably strong."

Convention attendance in September was 425,621, up 39.9 percent from September 1998. Year-to-date convention attendance is up 16 percent, to nearly 2.9 million delegates.

"Two new conventions brought an additional 35,000 delegates to Las Vegas during September," Ralenkotter said. "There was also a change in the month that the PGA International Golf Show was held, from August 1998 to September 1999, and that added another 15,634 delegates to the total."

Visitor volume to Laughlin was up 7.4 percent in September, to almost 350,000 visitors. Laughlin's visitor volume year to date through September stood at nearly 3.5 million visitors, an increase of 4.8 percent.

Airline passenger traffic through McCarran International Airport was up 21.1 percent in September, to 2.9 million passengers. The 3.1 million total for October boosted the year-to-date number to more than 28 million passengers.