LV April visitor count boosted by conventions

Tuesday, June 12, 2001 | 10:56 a.m.

The number of visitors to Las Vegas was up slightly in April thanks to a double-digit percentage increase in convention attendance for the month.

About 3.078 million people visited the city in April, a 1.1 percent increase over the 3.045 million recorded a year earlier, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported. Convention attendance, meanwhile, climbed 11.7 percent from 290,186 to 324,241 for the month.

The LVCVA calculated the economic impact of convention visitors for the month at $388.5 million, a 22.2 percent increase over the impact in April 2000.

The number of passengers arriving and departing at McCarran International Airport was up 4.9 percent to 3.2 million. The airport considers a single passenger's arrival and departure as two operations.

The number of vehicles that passed through the inspection station at Yermo, Calif., en route to Las Vegas, was up 2.7 percent to 523,765 and the average daily traffic on all other major highways was up 2 percent to 74,667 for the month.

The LVCVA's report also reported hotel and motel occupancy levels down slightly for the month. Total occupancy was down 1.7 points to 91.7 percent for the month, with hotel occupancy down 0.5 points to 95.2 percent and motel occupancy down 8 points to 74.1 percent.

Weekend occupancy was down 1.3 points to 96.3 percent and midweek occupancy was down 1.5 points to 90.1 percent.

The LVCVA also reported visitor volume was off 1.6 percent to 397,720 in Laughlin for the month, but up 0.3 percent to 144,457 in Mesquite.