Las Vegas tourist count hits 41M in 2014

Earlier this month the counter reached 40 million tourists coming Southern Nevada this year, toppling a record that had stood since 2012. Through November, 38 million visitors had come to Las Vegas in 2014, an increase of 3.5 percent compared to this same point last year. 

Scott Russell, senior director of research for the convention authority, said tourist visits for each month of 2014 has increased over its 2013 counterpart, and that ten  of the eleven months have reported record-setting totals. In 2013, 39.7 million visitors came to Las Vegas. With the outlook favorable for a robust New Year’s Eve holiday, analysts suggest that the rate could end up with at a total closer to 41 million. “We could get close, but I’m a little reluctant to make that prediction,” Russell said.

Hotel room occupancy citywide was 83.7 percent in November, an increase of 1.1 percent. For the the first 11 months of the year, hotel occupancy has been at 87.7 percent, up 2.4 percent. The average daily room rate in Las Vegas was US$ 113.51 in November, up 3.9 percent from year ago. For the year, the average daily room rate is up 5.7 percent. Convention attendance, however,  was down 10.4 percent in November, but is up for the first 11 months of the year by 1.1 percent. 

The convention authority said two November 2013 trade shows with a combined attendance of more than 27,000 had canceled and in the end did not come to Las Vegas this year. The number of airline passengers at McCarran International Airport was up 2.3 percent in November and has reached more than 39.5 million through the first 11 months of the year, a 2.5 percent increase. The revenue per available room, a non-traditional reporting figure analysts use to gauge profitability, was up 5.3 percent in November and is up 5.7 percent for the year.

“The numbers have been moving in the right direction,” Russell said. Laughlin’s visitor volume increased 4.1 percent in November, but is still down 1.6 percent for the year. In Mesquite, visitor volume was up 14.6 percent in November and is up 15.3 percent for the first 11 months of 2014. Tourism plays a vital role in the state’s economic health, generating US$ 45 billion annually and supporting 376,000 jobs.