A near-record number of visitors packed Las Vegas’ hotels in March and they had room rates humming.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority counted 3.78 million visitors to the greater region for the month, the third-best in history behind October 2015 and July 2016.
The month benefited from an extra weekend date compared with last year and to the arrival of the massive ConExpo-Con/Agg construction equipment trade show, which returned after a three-year break and brought nearly 130,000 attendees.
Overall convention attendance was up 13.3 percent to 757,444 despite there being 8.9 percent fewer shows for the month.
Not surprisingly, occupancy and room rates soared compared with March 2016.
Citywide occupancy was up 2.2 percentage points to 94 percent, the LVCVA said. Motel occupancy jumped from 75.7 percent a year ago to 81.1 percent. Downtown occupancy rates were up 4 points to 89.2 percent. The average daily room rate was up 21.9 percent to $149.02, moving the quarterly average up 8.3 percent to $140.31.
Nevada gaming revenue was up a robust 7.4 percent to $991 million compared to the same month last year, helped by the NCAA basketball tournament, which delivered $41.3 million in win to the state’s 190 sports books.
The month capped an equally strong quarter for Southern Nevada’s casinos. Clark County win was up 5.6 percent, the Las Vegas Strip was up 5.5 percent, and Downtown Las Vegas was up 18.2 percent.
