LV tourism counts still lagging behind 2000 levels

Monday, Dec. 16, 2002 | 11 a.m.

Visitor volume to Las Vegas, up 4 percent over last year for October, still trails the number of tourists who came to the city in October 2000, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority said.

The LVCVA said 3 million people visited Las Vegas in October compared with 2.9 million in October 2001 and 3.1 million in October 2000, a 4.2 percent decline from two years ago.

Visitation for the first 10 months of 2002 is just under 2001 levels, but 2 percent below the 2000 total. The LVCVA reported that 29.6 million visited Las Vegas in the first 10 months of 2002, compared with 29.8 million for the same period in 2001 and 30.2 million in 2000.

Hotel occupancy levels for the first 10 months of 2002 trail last year's levels and 2000 levels in all categories, with the biggest declines in midweek visits, down 5.9 points to 82.3 percent, and motel occupancy, down 11.9 points to 61.4 percent from two years ago.

Overall, the occupancy rate for the first 10 months of 2002 was at 85.3 percent, compared with 86.8 percent in 2001 and 90.5 percent in 2000.

The LVCVA said that while the number of passengers traveling through McCarran International Airport is down, auto traffic on major highways to Las Vegas is up 11.5 percent from 2000 to 2002.