Strong convention business is driving Las Vegas visitation to record levels and contributing to a healthy lift in gaming revenues too.
Visitor volume hit 3.7 million in September, the city’s fourth-best month of the year, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, as convention attendance soared past 614,000, an increase of 16.2 percent over September 2015.
Through the first nine months of 2016, visitation to Vegas stood at 32.5 million, 1.8 percent ahead of last year’s record-setting total.
The impact on hotel occupancy has been significant. At 92.9 percent citywide in September it was ahead of September 2015 by a full 300 basis points. Weekend occupancy rose 100 bps year on year to 95.5 percent.
Likewise, the average daily room rate for the first nine months of the year hit $125.69, handily surpassing the $119.94 over the same period in 2015.
September’s convention numbers benefited from the MINExpo, which is held every four years and brought 44,000 attendees, and a rotation back to Vegas of the Solar Energy Trade Show, which saw attendance of 18,000. There was also the Global Gaming Expo, attended by 27,000, which last year was held in October.
Convention attendance through the first nine months stands at just over 5 million, approaching the pre-recession record of 6.3 million reached in 2006.
At McCarran International Airport more than 3.6 million passengers boarded or arrived on domestic flights in September, a 7.2 percent increase over a year earlier. International flights arriving or departing totaled 333,532 travelers, an 8.3 percent jump.
Market-leader Southwest Airlines reported more than 1.5 million passengers, a 3.5 percent increase over last year. Third-place United Airlines reported a 6.8 percent jump with 342,490 passengers.
Through the first three quarters, more than 35.5 million airline passengers traveled through Las Vegas, better than last year by 5 percent.
The slots and tables felt the love as well. September’s win on the Strip was up 7.5 percent year on year to $542.5 million. Downtown Las Vegas was up 3.6 percent to $49.2 million.
