LVCVA: Room rates jump in March

Friday, May 13, 2005 | 10:45 a.m.

The average daily room rate charged by Las Vegas resorts continues to climb, according to March visitation statistics reported today by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

The LVCVA reported that the average rate for the month was $113.01, up 19.9 percent over March 2004. For the first quarter of 2005, the ADR was $107.34, up 13.2 percent from the same period a year ago.

Visitor volume for the month was reported at 3.4 million, up 3.2 percent over the previous March. For the quarter, visitor volume is up 1.4 percent to 9.4 million people.

The only weakness shown in the March report was in hotel occupancy levels and weekend occupancy rates. Hotel occupancy dropped 0.5 points to 95.8 percent, and weekend occupancy was off 1.1 points to 97.3 percent.

Occupancy overall was up 1.7 points to 94.5 percent, with motel occupancy climbing 13.1 points to 86.3 percent, and midweek occupancy up 2.6 points to 93.5 percent.

Motel and midweek occupancy rates were affected by a major convention conducted in Las Vegas in March. The ConExpo-Con/Agg show, attended by more than 120,000 people, occurs every three years. That show also boosted convention attendance for the month by 14.2 percent to 705,795, even though the number of meetings and shows conducted was down 9.8 percent to 2,254.

The LVCVA also reported that Laughlin visitor volume was down 1.8 percent to 390,282 people, and Mesquite volume was off 1.2 percent to 156,190 people.