Las Vegas welcomed 42.2 million visitors in 2017, a decline of 1.7 percent compared with 2016 and well short of the 43 million-plus that were expected at the start of the year.
Experts aren’t all that concerned, though. They say that while the October 1 mass shooting on the Strip certainly took a tragic bite out of fourth-quarter visitation, the bulk of the drop can be traced to a reduction in the city’s room count.
Kevin Bagger, executive director of the LVCVA Research Center, said that while part of the dip is “tied to the fourth-quarter tragedy,” most of the drop off was due to a reduction in the city’s room count.
“Several properties are going through major renovations and upgrades,” said Kevin Bagger, executive director of research for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, which tallied the results. “There were just fewer rooms available to sell during the year. All the other indicators (including gaming revenue) were really positive.”
The city’s room inventory at the end of December was 148,897, down from 149,339 at the end of 2016, and many of those won’t be back online until the end of this year, when Caesars Palace, Planet Hollywood, Harrah’s, the Linq, The Cosmopolitan, Park MGM and Luxor all will have completed extensive remodelings. Added to these will be 1,600 new rooms, Bagger noted, including 600 in the fall when Palace Station opens a new tower.
“To say we had a decline in 2017 after three years of record growth, it’s hard to complain it’s slightly down,” said Brent Pirosch, director of gaming consulting for CB Richard Ellis. “U.S. household net worth is a leading indicator for the Strip, and all the economic numbers point to another good year for the Strip in 2018.”
On the plus side, occupancy rates in 2017 held steady at 88.7 percent citywide, down slightly from 89.1 percent in 2016, Bagger said. Midweek occupancy stood at 86 percent and 94.5 percent on the weekends. The U.S. average is 65.7 percent.
The average daily room rate actually was better than 2016’s by 2.8 percent at $129.45 versus $125.97.
Bagger also pointed to convention attendance, which set a record in 2017 at 6.6 million, up from 6.3 million in 2016, a 5.5 percent gain.
