Las Vegas records 2 percent increase in visitors in September

By Amanda Finnegan

Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2010 | 10:46 a.m.

Las Vegas visitor volume in September increased by 2 percent, according to numbers released today by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

The number of visitors to Las Vegas increased to 3.12 million in September from about 3 million in September 2009. The LVCVA also noted year-to-date visitation totaled 28.2 million, a 2.4 increase from the same time period in 2009.

Citywide hotel occupancy fell from 83.2 percent in September 2009 to 82.1 percent in September 2010, primarily due to an increase of 7,200 rooms in the last year. Citywide weekend occupancy was close to 90 percent, the LVCVA said.

The average daily room rate increased 6.7 percent, from $91.18 last September to $97.25 in September 2010, marking the seventh straight month of room rate increases.

Convention attendance dropped more than 27 percent from 401,319 to 291,248 during the year-over-year period.

Passenger traffic at McCarran International Airport was down 2 percent, but vehicle traffic on Interstate 15 at the Nevada/California state line was flat with last September.

Visitor volume to Laughlin dropped 0.2 percent from September 2009 to September 2010, while the number of visitors to Mesquite fell 12.7 percent.