Vegas tourism flat in 2002

Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2003 | 10:56 a.m.

Visitor volume to Las Vegas in 2002 was flat compared with the previous year and off by 2.2 percent from the last full year before the terrorist attacks, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority said.

The LVCVA board of directors was told Tuesday that 35.1 million people visited the city in 2002, up 0.2 percent from the previous year, but down from the 35.8 million that came to the city in 2000.

The LVCVA research report showed that while convention attendance and the economic impact of those conventions was up slightly, occupancy levels, passenger traffic at McCarran International Airport and gaming revenue were off fractionally from 2001 levels.

The average daily room rate was up minimally, and traffic on major highways into Las Vegas was up 7.4 percent to an average of 78,405 vehicles per day.

Convention attendance in Las Vegas was up 1.8 percent to 5.1 million in 2002, a 32.5 percent improvement over totals from 2000. The economic impact calculated by the LVCVA was up 1.9 percent from 2002 to 2001, to $5.9 billion.

Hotel occupancy rates in 2002 were down slightly from the previous year's level, with the total rate calculated at 84 percent, down 0.7 points from 2001 and down 5.1 points from 2000. The weekend occupancy rate was off 0.5 points from 2001 to 2002, to 91.2 percent, which was 3.3 points off from 2000's level.

Tourism experts point out that Las Vegas' occupancy rates consistently outshine those of other destinations.

The LVCVA also said the average daily room rate in 2002 was $76.69 a night, a 0.4 percent increase from 2001. Room rates were not compiled by the LVCVA in 2000.

The total number of passengers using McCarran in 2002 was off 0.5 percent to 35 million people, a 5 percent decline from the total reported in 2000. Gaming revenue in Clark County was off 0.7 percent for the year to $7 billion, a decline of 8.9 percent from 2000.

Visitation in Laughlin and Mesquite also were down from 2001 and 2000 levels. In Laughlin, visitation was down 4.4 percent for the year to 4.3 million people, a decline of 6.9 percent from 2000 levels.. In Mesquite, visitation was down 2.6 percent to 1.6 million, a 2.6 percent decline from 2000 totals.

Convention attendance was Laughlin's one bright spot for 2002. Attendance was reported at 183,693, a 15.5 percent increase over 2001 and a 46.4 percent increase over 2000 levels. Officials with the LVCVA attributed the increase to additional convention space that has been added to the Flamingo Hilton in Laughlin.

The LVCVA board of directors also approved salary increases for Manny Cortez, president and chief executive officer, and Executive Vice President Rossi Ralenkotter.

Cortez was granted a 5.4 percent increase to $234,000 a year, while Ralenkotter, who was promoted last year to executive vice president, received an 8 percent increase to $196,913 a year.