LV casinos prepare for busy Memorial weekend

Friday, May 26, 2000 | 11:01 a.m.

Record numbers of visitors are expected in Las Vegas for the Memorial Day weekend.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority said an estimated 267,000 people are expected, a 7.7 percent increase over last year's kickoff to the summer vacation season.

Kevin Bagger, senior research analyst for the LVCVA, said the nongaming economic impact also will be higher -- $156.2 million, a 14.3 percent increase over last year.

Bagger said the number of expected visitors is higher because there's additional capacity this year. The Venetian had not completely opened by Memorial Day 1999 and the Paris hotel-casino opened in August. There were 114,966 rooms available to visitors for Memorial Day 1999 and 121,391 rooms now -- a 5.6 percent increase.

Bagger said the greater economic impact is attributable to a higher average budget per visitor based on LVCVA tourism surveys and a generally stronger economy.

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