McCarran, LVCVA report visitor growth

Thursday, Feb. 17, 2000 | 10:36 a.m.

McCarran International Airport said it served 2.67 million passengers in January, a 6.8 percent increase from January 1999.

Southwest Airlines, the No. 1 carrier in Las Vegas, led the growth by serving 762,284 passengers in January, up 10.2 percent. America West, the No. 2 carrier, posted an increase of 2.8 percent to 383,078 passengers.

United Airlines' count in Las Vegas was down 1.4 percent, Delta was up 1.8 percent and American was down 17 percent.

Meantime, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported a disappointing New Year's celebration didn't stop visitor growth in Las Vegas in December.

The city's visitor volume reached 2.52 million in December, a 2.9 percent increase from December 1998. The city's average room occupancy level declined 3.6 percentage points, however, to 74.4 percent. That was partly caused by a 10 percent increase in room inventory in 1999 -- as of December, the city's room inventory stood at 120,294 rooms.

Both air traffic and automobile traffic into Las Vegas rose in December, the report indicated. Airline passenger counts reached 2.57 million in December, a 5.8 percent rise, while average daily traffic along major highways into Las Vegas reached 64,416, a 0.7 percent rise.

The city posted stronger numbers for 1999 as a whole. Last year, total visitor volume reached an all-time record of 33.8 million, up 10.5 percent from 1998. Occupancy levels for the year averaged 88 percent, up from 85.8 percent in 1998.