Vegas visitor volume hits record for April

Friday, June 11, 2004 | 10:37 a.m.

About 3.2 million people visited Las Vegas in April, a 10.5 percent increase over a year ago and the highest April on record, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Bureau.

John Piet, senior research analyst for the bureau, said the numbers appear stronger than they might otherwise because April 2003 was a somewhat depressed period for the tourism industry. The economy wasn't as strong, the war in Iraq was under way, the SARS virus was in the news and terrorism concerns were front and center, he said.

"That shouldn't take away from the fact that this was the best April on record," Piet said. "The numbers are very encouraging, and we're seeing some pent-up travel demand. We've enjoyed a strong year up to this point."

So far this year, Las Vegas received 12.5 million visitors, a 7.5 percent increase from the same period in 2003.

Convention attendance grew 20 percent from a year ago to 440,822 people, though the number of conventions in April fell 13.3 percent to 2,154 from last year.

The nongaming economic effect of those conventions jumped 22.8 percent to $524.3 million.

Hotel and motel occupancy in April rose 8 points to 94 percent. The average daily room rate rose 11.1 percent to $92.67.

Airline passenger traffic through McCarran Airport rose 23.3 percent to 3.6 million. Average daily auto traffic on Interstate 15 at the California border was nearly flat, down 0.1 percent from a year ago.

Piet said the flat number isn't an indication that higher gas prices are hurting tourism.

Auto traffic also was high in 2003, in part because of a shift from air to auto traffic after the Sept. 11 attacks, he said.

"Every indication we have is that gas prices have not affected travel to Las Vegas. The visitor volume numbers show people are still coming here," he said.

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