Paris to boost holiday draw

Thursday, Sept. 2, 1999 | 11:18 a.m.

The highways will be crowded this Labor Day weekend with tourists visiting Las Vegas to see Paris Las Vegas and the city's other new attractions. Older standbys such as the MGM Grand and Mirage will be busy as well.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority estimates 253,000 people will visit the city over the three-day weekend, up 14 percent, or 30,000 people, from Labor Day 1998. The LVCVA expects a 92 percent room occupancy rate.

Kevin Bagger, senior research analyst for the LVCVA, said the crowd will result in a $139.6 million nongaming economic impact on the community, a 29 percent increase over Labor Day 1998. Bagger said the reason that percentage is higher is that visitors are arriving with larger nongaming budgets for dining, shopping and entertainment.

The motel and hotel room inventory, which now stands at 120,740 with the opening Wednesday of the Paris hotel-casino, is 13.8 percent higher than it was a year ago. Since Labor Day 1998, Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, the Four Seasons Hotel, the Venetian and the Resort at Summerlin opened their doors in addition to Paris.

Bagger said Labor Day is a "middle of the road" holiday for visitation among three-day weekends. He said most tourists favor Presidents Day and Memorial Day holidays and weekends in March, April and October because of the favorable weather.

Meanwhile, outbound highways are expected to be nearly as busy as the inbound.

AAA Nevada spokesman Paul Moreno said a strong economy will prompt the second busiest Labor Day weekend ever. The agency estimates that one in eight Nevadans will hit the road, joining 34.8 million Americans nationwide, a 2 percent jump over last year. The busiest Labor Day weekend for travel was in 1997, when 34.9 million traveled.

The most popular destinations for Las Vegas residents are the Southern California theme parks and beaches, southern Utah's national parks and Sedona, Ariz., AAA said.

End-of-summer travel is expected to be high despite record high gasoline prices. The Nevada average is $1.56 for a gallon of self-serve regular unleaded gasoline, 35 cents higher than it was a year ago.