Las Vegas set a new record with more than 42 million visitors during 2015, besting 2014 by nearly one million, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) reported.
The record means hotel occupancy rates remain above 90 percent on the Las Vegas Strip, but casinos are not taking in as much gaming revenue per visitor as they did during before the Great Recession.
Some 39.2 million people visited Las Vegas in 2007, and casinos took in nearly $11 billion in gaming revenues, which was the most ever recorded since at least 1970, according to the LVCVA. Of those 39.2 million visitors, 6.2 million were in Las Vegas to attend a convention, and 47.7 million came and went through McCarran International Airport.
In 2014, 41.1 million visitors generated $9.5 billion in net gaming revenues, and 5.2 million visitors attended a convention, while 42.9 million used McCarran.
Part of the reason gaming numbers are lower, while visitation numbers are higher is that more people are coming to Las Vegas for shorter trips, and there are more hotel rooms available. Starting around 2009, visitors began shortening their trips and gambling less, as the Great Recession greatly reduced discretionary spending.
An increase in connecting flights utilizing McCarran International Airport also is skewing visitation numbers, with about 2.4 million people using McCarran to connect to other flights.
While Las Vegas casinos are taking in less per visitor in gaming, their non-gaming revenues increased by almost $480 million from 2007 to 2014, making up for much of the revenues lost via gaming, with $23.9 billion in gross revenues in 2014, versus $25.5 billion in 2007, the LVCVA reported.
Revenue breakdowns for 2015 continue being tallied.
