Don’t bet against Vegas
Perennially popular tourist town Las Vegas’s visitor industry is showing signs of good luck lately with officials forecasting almost 39 million visitors this year, only the second time in history to reach that number.
The LVCVA (Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority) has had 19 months of growth in visitor volume. The average daily room rate has also gone up regularly in that period.
“After a year and a half of steady growth, we can say with confidence the tourism industry in Las Vegas is in recovery,” said Tom Collins, Clark County commissioner and chairman of the board of LVCVA. “We expect the growth we have seen to continue in 2012.”
Room tax revenue is up 16.3 percent and the average daily room rate is up almost 11 percent through the third quarter compared to the same period last year. Convention attendance increased 9.9 percent.
The LVCVA has developed a three-year business plan that outlines strategies to expand the area’s tourism market. The plan promotes growth by targeting key market segments, specifically international and business travel.
The new plan targets certain destinations such as Brazil and China for their emerging economies and growing spending power.
International travelers now make up 18 percent of visitors to Vegas, with the goal to increase than to almost one third.
Other elements of the three-year strategy include launching comprehensive travel research in the major international markets of Canada, Mexico, and the UK.
By David Wilkening
David
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