June visitation up 4 percent; hotel occupancy also jumps

Nearly 3.3 million people visited Las Vegas in June, an increase of 4 percent from the same month last year.

The uptick pushed visitation for the year to more than 19.6 million, an increase of 1.3 percent from the pace set in 2006.

Occupancy also increased for the month to a rate of nearly 92 percent despite an average daily room rate of $135, which was 16 percent higher than last June.

The increase for the month showed in gambling trends. The amount gamblers lost on the Strip was up 13 percent to $790 million.

The figures were part of a monthly visitation report by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

Kevin Bagger, director of research for the authority, characterized June as a strong month for leisure travel.

Visitation to Las Vegas increased despite convention guests to Southern Nevada decreasing nearly 14 percent from the year before.

Part of the reason for the strong showing over last June is that consumers are growing more accustomed to high gasoline prices, which discouraged guests last year, Bagger said.

“There has been sort of an adjustment in the mind-set of what gas prices are,” he said.

June 2006 was 2 percent slower than June 2005.

But this year was still strong, even in the context of the comparison to the slow month of June 2006.

Automobile traffic to Las Vegas increased 1.2 percent and air traffic increased almost 7 percent for the month. Nearly 24 million people have arrived and departed Las Vegas this year, a nearly 5 percent increase over the pace of last year.

The number of travelers to Laughlin, which has suffered because of increasing competition in California and Arizona, was also strong.

The 267,000 visitors was 4 percent lower than June 2006. But that number looks better considering Laughlin has suffered double-digit declines in some months.

Gambling revenue in Laughlin increased 2.5 percent, possibly indicating the river city’s strategy of attracting longer-stay, bigger-spending guests is working.