Las Vegas tourism holding steady through August

Through August, Las Vegas tourism is flat.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority released August tourism numbers Monday, and thus far 26.7 million people have visited the city, about on par with the 26.71 million who visited through the same period in 2012.

In the month-to-month comparison, August visitation was up a slight 0.9 percent to 3.37 million visitors, compared to 3.34 million in August 2012.

Citywide occupancy is up 0.3 points year-over-year to 85.3 percent from 85.1 percent. Month-over-month, citywide occupancy is up to 84.3 percent from 84 percent.

Year-over-year, August’s hotel occupancy was down to 88.3 percent from 2012’s 88.4 percent. August’s year-to-date motel occupancy was 58.5 percent, compared with last year’s 55.8 percent.

Total weekend occupancy year-over-year was up to 91.6 percent compared with 2012’s 91.4 percent, and weekday stays were up to 82.6 percent from last year’s 82.4 percent through August.

Strip occupancy, specifically, almost is unchanged year-to-date at 88 percent compared to 2012’s 88.1 percent, while downtown’s year-over-year occupancy is down slightly from 2012’s 76.3 percent to 75 percent through August.

Room prices, however, are still rising, with August’s average daily room rate of $105.47, up from August 2012’s $102.09. Year-to-date, the average daily room rate is $110.72, up from last year’s $107.36. On the Strip, the average daily rate rose 4.7 percent month-over-month to $113.70 from August 2012’s $108.59. Year-over-year Strip rates are up 3 percent to $119.10 from $115.58 in 2012.

Downtown, average daily rates are down this August to $64.94 from $66.68 last year. Year-to-date, the rate is up 7.4 percent to $67.21 from $62.60 in 2012.

Month-over-month convention attendance took a beating in August, but is strong year-over-year.

Convention attendance in August totaled 443,561 people, down 7.3 percent from 478,522 in 2012. The number of conventions and meetings held was down a whopping 13.1 percent to 1,074 events from 1,236 in August 2012. Year-over-year, though, convention attendance is up 3.1 percent to 3.63 million from 2012’s 3.52 million. The number of events is also up, 6.4 percent, to 14,569 from 13,692.

The convention authority is citing show rotation as the reason for the month-over-month decline, as Deaf Nation World Expo and the Orgill Fall Dealer Market rotated out in 2013. The shows attracted 23,000 and 15,000 attendees, respectively.

As for vehicle traffic, the average daily number of vehicles coming into Las Vegas was flat in August, from 115,106 a year ago to 115,107 in 2013. The number coming from Southern California on Interstate 15 was down 0.6 percent, to 50,780 vehicles, from 51,099. Vehicle counts include visitor, resident and commercial traffic.

Elsewhere in Clark County, the number of Laughlin visitors was up 0.9 percent in August, while Mesquite visitation was up 2 percent in the month-over-month comparisons. Year-to-date, Laughlin’s visitor count was down 1.8 percent, to 1.44 million from 2012’s 1.47 million total. Mesquite’s was down 1.9 percent, to 693,101 from 706,612 in 2012.

Contact reporter Laura Carroll at lcarroll@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4588. Follow @lscvegas on Twitter.