Las Vegas visitation lagged in June, but Strip gaming win strong

Visitor volume lagged again in June after two straight months of increases, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported Tuesday.

At the halfway point of 2018, volume is down less than 1 percent from a year earlier with 21 million visitors.

The shift of the Electric Daisy Carnival from June 2017 to May this year was partially responsible for the 1.1 percent decline in visitors. Two conventions, Infocomm with 43,000 delegates and the American Water Works Association with 15,000, returned to Southern Nevada this year, boosting convention attendance by 2.9 percent to 500,600 for the month.

The LVCVA reported the lowest average daily room monthly rate so far this year, $116.41 a night, and citywide occupancy was off 2 percentage points to 90.6 percent.

The state Gaming Control Board also reported Tuesday that state gaming win continued its upward trend with a 4.2 percent increase to $933 million in June.

It was the fifth straight month of increases, but the second month out of five in which the total didn’t clear the $1 billion mark.

Clark County’s win was up 3.5 percent to $791 million and the Strip soared 5.4 percent to $523.9 million. Downtown Las Vegas was off 4.4 percent to $44 million.

The three-month gaming revenue trend for Clark County, generally a more accurate gauge of win activity because it eliminates volatile swings resulting from calendar comparisons, shows the county’s 212 licensees’ win up a solid 5.5 percent for April, May and June compared with those months in 2017.

Table-game win provided the big boost for Clark County with blackjack win up 19 percent to $92.3 million, baccarat up 10.3 percent to $73.2 million, and roulette up 48 percent to $35 million.

Table win offset a rare decline in slot-machine win revenue in the county with win down 3.3 percent from June 2017. Players scored best on Megabucks and the high-denomination slots. Casino win was off 3 percent to $199.7 million on multidenomination machines and 1 percent to $200.7 million on penny slots. The biggest house improvement was on nickel slots, up 13 percent to $3.9 million.

For the 2017-18 fiscal year, statewide gaming win was up 3.2 percent to $11.81 billion. Clark County was up 2.8 percent to $10.17 billion, with the Strip climbing 2 percent to $6.6 billion and downtown Las Vegas up 3.2 percent to $628.4 million.

The largest Southern Nevada market increase occurred in Mesquite, up 5.6 percent to $127.3 million.

Win increased in all 19 markets monitored by the Control Board for the fiscal year compared with 2016-17. A 10.3 percent increase in slot win in the Wendover market was the highest increase of the fiscal year, while win for tables, counters (sports bets) and card games soared 19.8 percent to $5.1 million in outlying Washoe County.

Statewide, slot win was up 3.5 percent to $7.54 billion for the fiscal year while tables, counters and card games were up 2.6 percent to $4.27 billion.

Over the past 10 years, tables, counters and card win has increased 0.4 percent, while slot win has declined 0.8 percent.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.