Visitation to Las Vegas rose to near-record highs in 2017 and it generated enormous economic rewards, according to a new report prepared for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
The report, compiled by locally based consultants Applied Analysis, estimates that 2017 visitation in total accounted for $34.8 billion in direct spending and generated $58.8 billion in total economic benefits, including $10.1 billion worth of indirect spending by tourism-related suppliers and vendors and another $13.8 billion spent by workers in the tourism industry whose jobs benefit from visitor spending.
The gaming mecca welcomed 6.6 million conventioneers out of a total of 42.2 million visitors last year, accounting for another $9.8 billion in total economic benefits.
Tourism employed one in every four workers in Southern Nevada in 2017, with a total employment base supported by tourism of 391,400, or 41.1 percent of Southern Nevada’s 951,400 total employment figure, according to the report. Total salaries and wages paid to those workers was $16.4 billion last year, making up 36.2 percent of the region’s $45.3 billion in salaries and wages.
“Tourism means more to Southern Nevada than entertainment means to Los Angeles, than aerospace means to Seattle or auto manufacturing means to Detroit,” said Applied Analysis principal Jeremy Aguero. “That is usually by a relatively wide margin.”
Not surprisingly, the LVCVA and its public- and private-sector partners has set a demanding timetable for completion of a 600,000-square-foot addition to the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Plans call for the $860 million project to be up and running in time for the 2021 CES, the city’s premier trade show, and last week, the team of architects heading it unveiled key features of the design: like a broad entrance encompassing an atrium and food court, a rooftop terrace and pedestrian access to Las Vegas Boulevard. An outdoor people-mover is also on the drawing board.
The authority says completion of the new hall, which is projected to bring some 600,000 new conventioneers to the city, is the linchpin for a phased renovation of four existing halls within two years of the completion date, thus enabling the Convention Center to continue to host major events without interruption.
