Tourism decline in July was shallowest for 2009

By Richard N. Velotta (contact)

Fri, Sep 18, 2009 (3 a.m.)

Southern Nevada had its shallowest year-over-year percentage decline in visitation in July, and other indicators tell the story of an industry blistered by a rough economy.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported 3.2 million visitors in July, a 1.3 percent decline from July 2008.

But the average daily room rate was down 18.6 percent for the month, and convention attendance was off 5.5 percent.

The state Gaming Control Board reported Clark County’s July gaming win was down 10.9 percent over last year. Statewide, win was off 12.5 percent, and the Strip was down 11.1 percent.

Visitation patterns show relatively healthy weekend occupancy in Southern Nevada — rates were up 0.4 percentage points to 91.3 percent over July 2008. But the midweek occupancy rate was down 4.9 percentage points to 80.8 percent.

The average daily room rate for July was $86.23, down from $105.97 a year earlier.

Although there was one more convention in Southern Nevada in July than a year earlier — 1,317 compared with 1,316 — overall attendance was off 5.5 percent to 249,692 people.

Fewer conventiongoers spending less money — and gambling less — have combined to take a big hit to the state’s tax revenue.

On the gaming side, only one of 16 geographical regions of the state had a percentage increase in gaming win. North Las Vegas, which benefited from the opening of Aliante Station in the past 12 months, had a 7.4 percent increase in win to $23.6 million.

Another positive on the tourism side were the statistics showing an increase in daily auto traffic on the area’s major highways. Traffic counts on Southern Nevada’s highways were up 6.4 percent to 95,448 while traffic on Interstate 15 at the California-Nevada border was up 8 percent to 46,558 vehicles over July 2008.

Visitor volume in Laughlin was off 2.3 percent to 254,101 in July, but in Mesquite, where the Oasis closed, volume dropped 28.1 percent to 85,160 tourists. The hotel closure resulted in a 6.5 percentage point increase in occupancy in Mesquite to 80.5 percent.

The convention authority noted that Southern Nevada occupancy rates remain well ahead of the national average. Smith Travel Research, which monitors hotel occupancy nationwide, reported the national average at 56 percent in July, 27 percentage points behind Southern Nevada.