Las Vegas’ hot streak continued in January, with both visitation and gaming win posting tidy increases.
Visitation to the city was up 1.1 percent to 3.5 million for the month despite a 4.1 percent drop-off in convention attendance resulting from a couple of big 2016 shows rotating to other cities.
More than 3.6 million travelers came through McCarran International Airport in January, beating the same month last year—the third-best in McCarran’s history—by more than 120,000.
The airport served 47.4 million passengers in 2016. It was the sixth consecutive year of increases and the second-busiest year in the facility’s 68-year history. And 2017 opened with more of the same as January notched a robust 5.8 percent increase in international passengers and a 3.3 percent increase in domestic.
Not surprisingly, resort operators are taking advantage. The average daily room rate rose 3.7 percent to $150.21 in January, the highest monthly average ever, according to research compiled by Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, topping the previous high of $146.53 set in April 2007. ADR on the Strip hit $163.72.
Revenue per available room, a key indicator of hotel profitability, was up citywide by 3.7 percent over January 2016 to $128.73.
The casino floor didn’t fare badly either. Clark County, which includes the Las Vegas Strip, reported $926.2 million in win for the month. Most of it was generated on the Strip, which saw a gaming revenue increase of 14.4 percent year on year to $608.9 million. Downtown Las Vegas soared 32.1 percent to $55.5 million; North Las Vegas was up 25.9 percent to $28.7 million; the Boulder Strip was up 24.5 percent to $84.9 million. Laughlin’s win was up 4.8 percent to $44.1 million. Only the outlying Mesquite market was down, by 1.4 percent to $10.5 million. The balance of the county was up 1.4 percent to $93.5 million.
Statewide, the casinos won $1.04 billion, the highest monthly total since February 2013. It represented a 12 percent increase over January 2016.
