Vegas visitor increases posted in March

Wednesday, May 24, 2000 | 10:43 a.m.

Las Vegas visitor traffic continued to increase in March, though growth rates slowed over levels seen earlier this year, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported Tuesday.

Las Vegas hosted 3.13 million visitors in March, a 5.4 percent increase over March 1999. That growth rate was slightly lower than the 8.9 percent pace reported over the first three months of 2000.

The most significant factor in slowing growth was a drop in convention activity -- in March, convention attendance fell 23.4 percent to 375,000. The economic impact of conventions fell 22.7 percent, to $421 million.

Total occupancy levels declined 1.4 percentage points to 93 percent, the result of a 7 percent increase in room inventory since last March.

However, gaming revenues and airline traffic both showed healthy increases.

McCarran International Airport reported 3.28 million passengers in March, a 10.4 percent increase over last March. Over the first three months of 2000, passenger traffic rose 9.9 percent. At the Yermo Inspection Station, located on Interstate 15 in Southern California, auto traffic rose 5.5 percent to 460,000.

Gaming revenues, reported by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, increased 12.6 percent to $677 million.

Laughlin also posted an increase in visitor volume, which rose 1.7 percent to 416,000. However, Mesquite visitor volume declined 4.3 percent to 154,000.