Compared to April 2007, hotel room inventory grew by 2.6% to136,585 while visitor volume fell 1.5% to 3.31 million, pushinghotel occupancy down 360 basis points to 93.6% from 97.2%. Moteloccupancy fell 660 basis points, to 63.2% from 69.5%. The averagedaily room rate fell 7.4%, to $135.67 from $146.53.

Total passenger traffic through McCarran International Airportfell 5.5% to 3.77 million from 3.99 million. Vehicle traffic volumein Interstate 15 at the Nevada-California border fell 7.8% to83,253 from 89,757. International travelers taking advantage of theweak dollar are partially offsetting somewhat the decrease indomestic tourism, according to gaming companies.

The drop in business for hotels also showed up in April gamblingrevenue data, also released last week by the state Gaming ControlBoard. Gamblers in Nevada lost just over $1 billion to casinos inApril, a 5.1% decrease from April 2007, GlobeSt.com reportedWednesday.