Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Recent visitor data show that Southern Nevada's once white-hot travel
industry has cooled this year. And while it would be easy to lay the blame
on soaring fuel prices, the real culprit -- at least in May -- was an
absence of conventioneers. The Las Vegas Valley hosted more than 3.34
million visitors in May, down 0.9 percent from May 2005, according to
information released Friday by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors
Authority. May's total was only the third monthly decline in local visitor
volume since the start of 2005. Its dip comes on the heels of tepid 0.3
percent growth in both March and April, the same months gasoline prices
began to spike throughout the United States. But a closer look indicates
that drivers are still making their way to Southern Nevada despite unleaded
prices around $3 per gallon. Traffic on Interstate 15 at the
California-Nevada border averaged 40,288 vehicles per day in May, including
local residents. That's down 0.4 percent from last year, and still a better
monthly average than most reported since 2005 began. Traffic on all highways
in and out of town averaged nearly 87,000 vehicles per day in May, a 0.6
percent decline from a year ago. History shows that highway traffic
typically peaks in July and August.
Decreased convention attendance was the largest factor in May's slight
decline.

The valley hosted nearly 235,700 fewer conventioneers in May, or 35.7
percent less than visited here a year ago. Kevin Bagger, the authority's
research director, said several large shows held here in May 2005 did not
return 12 months later.

The Kitchen/Bath Industry Show, which drew 55,000 to the Las Vegas
Convention Center last year, was held in Chicago this year. The
24,500-attendee American Institute of Architects National Convention moved
to Los Angeles after coming to Las Vegas in 2005.

The International Esthetics Cosmetics & Spa Conference and its sister event,
the Las Vegas Hair & Nail Conference, took place in June this year following
May dates in 2005. Those events drew crowds of 45,000 this year.

The Hospitality Design Conference & Expo at Sands Expo and Convention Center
took its 10,500 attendees to April in 2006, one month earlier than a year
ago. The Waste Expo and its 11,000 attendees also came here a month earlier
following May dates in 2005, Bagger said.

"We're still getting a net increase in visitor numbers despite having fewer
rooms than a year ago," Bagger said, referencing the recent closures of the
Strip's Boardwalk and downtown Las Vegas' Lady Luck.

Citywide occupancy was 90.1 percent, down 1.2 percent, while total room
nights occupied slipped by 0.7 percent due to a nearly 37 percent decline in
nights occupied by visiting conventioneers.

But average daily room rates in the Las Vegas Valley climbed 15.5 percent in
May to $121.12. The annual average reached $122.99 percent, up 15.2 percent.

Year-to-date, the local travel industry's 0.9 percent growth rate was well
off last year's 12-month pace of 3.2 percent, though 2005's strongest gains
came in June, July, November and December.

May passenger traffic at McCarran International Airport topped 3.9 million,
virtually unchanged from a year ago. The airport's year-to-date total of
nearly 18.7 million was up 3.9 percent.

Laughlin's 273,415 monthly visitors represented a 15.6 percent decrease from
May 2005. Year-to-date, the number of people who visited the Colorado River
resort slipped by 224,080, or 12.9 percent, compared with last year's
five-month total of 1.73 million guests.

The news was only slightly better from Mesquite, whose May tally of 132,779
visitors was 9.3 percent worse than a year ago. Its year-to-date visitor
total was 670,326, down 6.9 percent.

Still, average daily room rates in Laughlin and Mesquite increased by 7.3
percent and 25.5 percent, respectively, through May 31.