Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2005 | 10:46 a.m.
Las Vegas visitors spent less time on the casino floor, but budgeted more money to gamble in 2004, a year-end report by Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority analysts said.
Kevin Bagger, director of Internet marketing and research for the LVCVA, told the board of directors Tuesday that the percentage of visitors who opt to gamble stayed consistent from 2003 to 2004, but the amount of time spent gambling per day dipped from 3.6 hours a day to 3.3 hours.
Bagger also said visitors budgeted $545 per trip to play last year compared with $491 per trip in 2003. About 87 percent of the tourists who come to Las Vegas gamble.
"We asked them what they budgeted for the trip because we felt some people would have some misgivings about saying how much they lost," Bagger explained in his report, a statistical review of a record year in which 37.4 million people visited Las Vegas.
At the conclusion of his report, Bagger forecast the number of visitors expected in 2005: 38.2 million, a 2.1 percent increase over the 2004 total.
Bagger said the LVCVA began monitoring tourists' visits to nightclubs, bars and lounges in 2004. He said 12 percent of the city's tourists visited a hotel nightclub with a cover charge and 8 percent visited a freestanding non-hotel nightclub. Meanwhile, 24 percent visited a no-cover hotel bar or lounge and 16 percent visited a non-hotel bar or lounge.
The LVCVA has no gauge on trends in that industry but will compare those 2004 statistics to those compiled this year.
Bagger said according to Smith Travel Research and LVCVA statistics, the city's hotel and motel occupancy rate climbed 3.6 points to 88.6 percent. While the increase wasn't as great as those of rival resort cities, it still surpassed the national average of a 2.2-point gain to 61.3 percent.
The LVCVA also reported that while bookings to the city through travel agents has dipped from 31 percent to 20 percent in five years since the 2000 fiscal year, Internet bookings have climbed from 21 percent to 39 percent.
In other business Tuesday, the LVCVA board approved a series of recommendations from its compensation committee, including higher executive level pay ranges.
None of the executives was given a raise Tuesday -- they'll probably be considered for that in the summer when top managers are evaluated.
The LVCVA's audit committee also heard a report from internal auditors that turned up an irregularity that cost two employees a portion of their performance bonuses.
Auditors determined that a human resources manager changed two staff evaluations after they were completed and signed by the vice president of human resources. The changes resulted in both employees receiving a higher merit-based bonus than warranted, the auditor's report said.
When auditors noted the mistake, the employees were required to pay back the overpayment, totaling about $600.
The audit said the LVCVA paid bonuses to 73 employees totaling about $76,080 in December.
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