Las Vegas notches all-time high for visitors in October

Las Vegas had its highest monthly visitor volume in history in October when 3.78 million people came to Southern Nevada for work or play.

Thanks to an additional weekend date in October compared with last year and a double-digit percentage increase in convention attendance due to favorable show rotations, the city recorded a 5.6 percent increase in visitors over the same month a year ago, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported Monday.

The average daily room rate and revenue per available room also were up by double-digit percentages.

The only negatives on the October report was the number of conventions and meetings held, down 13.9 percent to 2,652, and Clark County gaming revenue, off 4 percent.

The average daily room rate for the month was $135.62, an 11.7 percent increase over last year and the highest level since January when rates traditionally climb with the abundance of large conventions and trade shows.

The $146.89 average room rate on the Strip was 12 percent more than last year and the highest Strip rate recorded since the LVCVA began publishing the statistic in 2013.

Revenue per available room, at $125.86, was also the highest on record since 2013 and was 16.3 percent more than October 2014.

Convention attendance climbed 12.6 percent to 533,505, the fourth best month of the year behind January, March and February. The city benefited from having the 18,000-delegate International Sanitary Supply Association show in Las Vegas this year and the All Baby & Child show (14,000 attendees) and Live Design International (11,900) in October instead of another month.

Occupancy rates were the best they've been all year in all but weekends. The overall rate of 92.8 percent was up 3.7 percentage points and was the best since 93.9 percent in March 2007.

Strong rates also were reported for hotels (up 3.2 points to 94.3 percent), motels (up 8.2 points to 78.6 percent), midweek (up 4.8 points to 91.5 percent), the Strip (up 3.5 points to 94.2 percent) and downtown Las Vegas (up 7.7 points to 88.4 percent.)

Weekend occupancy was up 0.7 points to 95.7 percent, third-best this year behind July (96.8 percent) and April (95.8 percent) and even with May and June.

The strong October visitation performance was hardly a surprise after McCarran International Airport reported its best October ever last week with 4.1 million passengers, a 5.7 percent increase over last year.

The October numbers put Las Vegas within easy reach of record visitation for 2015. Over 10 months, the total is at 35.7 million, 5.5 million shy of 2014's record 41.1 million visitors.

Visitor volume climbed by 7 percent in Mesquite, but was flat in Laughlin in October. The average daily room rate was up 6.1 percent to $62.12 in Mesquite and 3.7 percent to $43.22 in Laughlin.

Occupancy rates climbed 5.1 percentage points to 84.7 percent in Mesquite and 2.5 points to 61.7 percent in Laughlin.

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