LV visitor volume jumped 13.1 percent in July

Friday, Sept. 17, 1999 | 11:37 a.m.

Las Vegas hosted 2.89 million visitors in July, a 13.1 percent increase over July 1998, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported.

The increase represents an increase of 334,000 visitors for the month of July. Through July, the city's visitor volume is 1.8 million ahead of last year's total, putting Las Vegas on track to reach 33 million visitors in 1999, according to the LVCVA. The area's 1998 visitor total was 30.6 million.

That's the largest visitor volume increase in five years, the LVCVA said.

Average hotel room occupancy stood at 87.3 percent in July, up from 84.3 percent in July 1998. The city had added 11,000 rooms through July, and the area's total hotel room inventory now exceeds 120,000 rooms.

Convention attendance for July dropped 10.9 percent, a statistic the LVCVA blames on the cycling of major shows between various cities. For the year-to-date, however, convention attendance is up 15.3 percent, to 2.2 million.

Passenger traffic through McCarran International Airport rose 13.3 percent in July, to 2.9 million passengers. McCarran has handled more than 19 million passengers through July, a 9.9 percent increase.