LVCVA expects another huge holiday weekend

Friday, Sept. 3, 2004 | 10:51 a.m.

Las Vegas resorts are gearing up for one of the biggest Labor Day weekends ever, despite gasoline prices' climbing back above the $2 barrier.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority projects that 271,000 people will visit the city over the three-day weekend, the traditional last fling of summer.

John Piet, senior research analyst for the LVCVA, said the estimated total is 3 percent more than the number of visitors who came to the city last year and, if visitation reaches that level, hotel occupancy would be about 92.1 percent, 2.6 percentage points higher than the Labor Day 2003 level.

Piet said based on the agency's estimate, the city could expect a nongaming economic impact of $162.7 million, 2.7 percent ahead of the $158.4 million collected last year.

Priceline.com, an Internet travel Web site, said the Las Vegas Strip is the No. 1 tourist destination in the nation for Labor Day this year, with other Las Vegas destinations finishing in the top 50, based on its number of bookings.

Priceline, which subdivides markets into several zones, listed the Las Vegas Convention Center area at No. 22, the resort corridor west of the Strip at No. 28, the area around McCarran International Airport at No. 35, the area around UNLV at No. 40 and downtown Las Vegas along Fremont Street at No. 47.

According to Priceline, the Las Vegas Strip finished ahead of five zones of New York City, Chicago's North Michigan Avenue area, two regions of Boston and downtown San Diego among the top 10 Labor Day destinations.

Many of the city's resorts say they are sold out or near capacity for the weekend.

Yvette Monet, a spokeswoman for MGM MIRAGE, said all the company's properties are nearly full and that a "significant percentage" of those who booked did so within the last week.

The company operates the MGM Grand, Bellagio, New York-New York, Mirage, Treasure Island and Boardwalk properties.

"I think travelers just decided on a last-minute getaway," Monet said. "Labor Day just isn't on the radar the same way as the Fourth of July or New Year's for advanced bookings."

She said much of the company's draw can be attributed to two major entertainment offerings at the MGM Grand Garden Arena: singer Hilary Duff tonight and comedian Robin Williams on Saturday.

"We're expecting them to bring more than 10,000 people to the MGM Grand on those nights," Monet said.

Michael Coldwell, a spokesman for Caesars Entertainment Inc., said his company's resorts -- Caesars Palace, Bally's, Paris Las Vegas and the Flamingo -- also are close to capacity.

"There's a lot of drive-in traffic from SoCal," Coldwell said. "Las Vegas is a quick end-of-the-summer getaway."

Coldwell said crowds are being driven to Caesars Palace by headliner Celine Dion and that the resort's average daily rate is higher than it was last year. He said specific figures were not available.

Monet and Coldwell said high gasoline prices apparently aren't scaring tourists away.

"People are just adding a few more dollars into their gasoline budgets in order to have a great weekend," Monet said.

AAA Nevada said the average cost of a gallon of unleaded gasoline in the state in its mid-August survey was $2 a gallon, but in the past week it has climbed a few cents higher. Nationwide, the average cost is $1.86 a gallon, about 15 cents a gallon higher than it was at Labor Day last year, but not quite as high as the all-time record of $2.05 a gallon reached in May.

The travel services club said 287,000 Nevadans would travel 50 miles or more during the upcoming weekend, up 2.2 percent over last year. Nationally, AAA predicts 34.1 million Americans will travel over the three-day weekend.

About 78 percent of Nevada's Labor Day travelers -- 235,000 people -- will reach their destinations by car, a 2 percent increase over the number who drove last year. The organization said 51,000 Nevadans will travel by plane and 15,000 will go by train, bus or another mode of transportation.