Vegas Visitation Falls Another 10%

Along with the 9.8% drop in November visitation came a 6% drop in room nights occupied to 3.27 million and an 8.1% drop in the average daily room rate to $108.80. The total number of visitors deplaning in Las Vegas fell 14.7% to 3.23 million, and daily auto traffic at the California-Nevada border was down 4.4% to 38,089, according to the LVCVA.

The result was a big drop in hotel and motel occupancy. Citywide occupancy in November was 79.2%, down 770 basis points from November 2007, when citywide occupancy was 86.9%. Hotel occupancy specifically fell 760 basis points to 83.1% from 90.7% in the same year-earlier period, while motel occupancy fell 1000 basis points to 50.1% from 60.1%. Weekend occupancy, the time when the hotels can charge their highest price, fell 710 basis points to 85.9% from 93% one year earlier. Midweek occupancy came in at 75.9%, down from 83.8% in 2007.

As GlobeSt.com reported late last week, the decreased visitation is affecting "gaming win," the amount of money gamblers lose in the casinos. According to the state Gaming Control Board, gaming win was down 15.2% in Clark County as a whole and down 16% on the Las Vegas Strip, which makes up the 62% of the county's total. Downtown Las Vegas was remarkably resilient, suffering only a 1.6% decline in gaming win. For the year, gaming win is off 9% in Clark County and off 9.3% on the Las Vegas Strip but only 7.3% in Downtown Las Vegas, which in recent years has watched its gaming revenue decrease while it increased on the Las Vegas Strip.

Convention attendance was off 16.4% to 503,545 in November 2008 from 602,605 in that same year-earlier period. The number of meetings held was down 13.6% to 1,774 from 2,054 in November 2007.