Las Vegas visitor numbers off 5.8 percent in May

Thursday, July 9, 2009 | 12:43 p.m.

LVCVA report on May numbers

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The number of visitors to Las Vegas dropped 5.8 percent in May compared to a year earlier, according to numbers released today.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported the city had 3,199,719 visitors in May, down from 3,395,991 visitors in May 2008. Hotel occupancy dropped from 89.7 percent to 84.4 percent.

Nightly room rates have plummeted over the past year, dropping from $135.17 in May 2008 to $96.96 a year later, the LVCVA reported.

The number of conventions and meetings in town fell more than 25 percent, while convention attendance dropped about 33 percent.

The number of passengers boarding and departing at McCarran International Airport was off 11.5 percent, while auto traffic at the Nevada/California line on Interstate 15 was up 4.4 percent.

Visitor volume was down 7.6 percent in Laughlin and 31 percent in Mesquite.

Discussion: 13 comments so far…

By Nick

7/9/09 at 1:52 p.m.

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Thats not too bad considering the change in the economy.

LV remains a good value for a vacation. I will just stay away from Phil Ruffins places as I know he doesnt want my kind there. Rich only! LOL.
By judgesmales

7/9/09 at 2:18 p.m.

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Why not also give the visitor numbers from 2007 and 2006 for a little context? Even though it's a 5.8-percent drop from last year, I would bet it's almost a 10-percent from two years ago. That would more accurately portray what's going on out there. But I guess that would be too much bad news for the reality-challenged to deal with.
By davidwayneosedach

7/9/09 at 3 p.m.

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It should be interesting to see how the summer numbers pan out.
By dipstick

7/9/09 at 4:15 p.m.

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with the proliferation of casino gambling nation wide and the expense and hassle of air travel, vegas has to work hard to compete; throw in the current economic situation world wide, something has got to give.
By neiman1

7/9/09 at 6:50 p.m.

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I am sure the comments from the President have had NO impact on visitors to Nevada. The energy plan passed in the house will have a much bigger impact. With the rise in jet fuel costs this bill will cause the cost of airfare will necessarily skyrocket, just like electricity costs. This is going to be a long recession, thank you harry Ried and your sister in arms, nancy Pelosi.
By Nick

7/9/09 at 8:06 p.m.

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John Ensign is busy having sex with women while his kids grow up without a father. They are better off without him.

Nevada is suffering by only having one senator working. No tyrain thanks to John Ensighns sickening sexual preversions.
By hooloogoo

7/10/09 at 12:39 a.m.

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...As I posted earlier the 5.8 drop looks better than expected. Ten percent is a killer for business so cheaper hotel rates are helping overall but the 25 percent drop in convention business sure doesn't look good for the workers related to the special events, exhibitions, transportation, wining, dining, music, and lodging that normally associate with this vital component of the Vegas Scene..
By term25600

7/10/09 at 5:42 a.m.

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These numbers can be twisted to mean almost anything. When they say visitation dropped 5.8% from a year ago in May, what does this really mean. Are things getting better? or worse? All these numbers need to be taken together to get a good picture, and these one shot articles dont do that.

How about some graphs showing visitation for several years, as well as gaming drop and other factors which really enable one to understand where we are and what the trends are.
By leftiebob

7/10/09 at 7:37 a.m.

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The Mesquite numbers are shocking, yet that is provided almost as an afterthought.
The airport numbers are a disaster as this is where the money comes from.
When will the casinos decide to once again cater to the gamblers and start generous comping to compete (as in the past)?
Catering to the high end will bankrupt those who bet on this model.
By LvConvention

7/10/09 at 10:17 a.m.

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We need to figure out a way to help bring more people here. People are not going to always just fly out of the sky. If we had like a nation wide commercial telling people that it really isn't that expensive to come to vegas, because it isn't. Hotels have cut room prices, making it actually cheaper to come here and say, have a convention, then to go to somewhere like San Francisco.
By stevem

7/10/09 at 6:21 p.m.

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31 percent in mesquite...

good lord...that is brutal. does anyone still live there?

and that one poster makes a good point in that they SHOULD...because they HAVE the data...is to show how much it was down from may of 2008 compared to may of 2007.

sure, it's only 5.8 percent, BUT...it might be like 10 percent from what it was in may of 2006.

i do some side work in the trade show industry and A LOT of smaller conventions that had contracts with vegas have expired in the last year and they have gone to denver, orlando, chicago, etc.

and i also think not having the stardust and the new frontier really puts a dent in the middle class visitors that don't want a $300 room. about all that is left is the riviera and god...what a dump.
By dipstick

7/11/09 at 3:41 a.m.

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las vegas is the ultimate gauge to the economic health in the USA; when its healthy the rest of the nation is in good shape. be glad what you have and pray it doesnt get any worse. poor little mesquite!
By stevem

7/11/09 at 10:07 a.m.

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i wonder what percent of the household income in mesquite comes directly from tourism. it has to be like 70% or something.