Las Vegas Visitor Volume Doubles, Casino Hotel Occupancy Increases

Posted on: December 30, 2021, 08:54h. 

Last updated on: December 30, 2021, 09:39h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

Las Vegas continues to rebound. New statistics supplied by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) reveal that more and more leisure travelers are returning to the Strip and elsewhere in Southern Nevada.

Las Vegas casino revenue Nevada GGR
The Fremont Street Experience is bustling in this Memorial Day 2021 weekend photograph. Las Vegas visitor volumes are improving from a most difficult 2020, but remain lower than 2019. (Image: Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Over 3.11 million people ventured to the valley last month, a 106 percent year-over-year increase. With more people in town, casino hotel rooms were better occupied. Overall occupancy jumped 38 percent to 77.6 percent. Nearly 91 percent of rooms were booked on the weekends.

The average nightly room rate in the Las Vegas area surged 66 percent to $156. Strip rooms went higher at $165. Downtown Las Vegas continues to offer more affordable lodging, nightly average rates there $96 in November.

The surge in visitor numbers is entirely from leisure travel. Conventions were permitted to return last summer, but the LVCVA has yet to resume reporting attendance numbers from such exhibitions.

Robust Gaming Revenue

Nevada’s gaming industry has quickly covered from the darkest days of COVID-19 in 2020. Gross gaming revenue (GGR) statewide has topped $1 billion in each of the past nine months, an unprecedented streak.

Las Vegas Strip casinos won $755 million off gamblers last month. That’s a 116 percent premium on November 2020. Clark County saw gaming income jump 81 percent to nearly $1.16 billion.

The state’s gaming floors are busier than ever.

Nevada continued to record gaming win amounts in excess of pre-pandemic levels in November,” said Michael Lawton, senior research analyst at the Nevada Gaming Control Board. “Demand is being buoyed by healthy consumer savings, the sustained rebound of leisure travel, and the return of international flights (other than Canada and Mexico).”

Nevada 2021 GGR through November stands at $12.3 billion. With still a month remaining, 2021 is already Nevada’s third-highest GGR year on record.

The odds are good that Nevada will break its all-time casino revenue record of $12.8 billion set in 2007.

Numbers Should Climb

Las Vegas and Nevada casinos are posting record gaming revenue despite overall visitor numbers still below pre-pandemic levels.

Through November, total visitor volume in Las Vegas is 29.2 million people. While that’s up 64 percent on the same 11 months in 2020, it’s more than a quarter lower than the number of visitors reported January through November in 2019.

Some of the 25.2 percent decline from 2019 will be made up once 2021 convention attendance numbers are reported by the LVCVA. The tourism agency told Casino.org that total convention attendance incurred in 2021 will be relayed during the LVCVA’s December Executive Summary.

December 2021 is expected to be much busier than the holiday month last year. The LVCVA expects more than 300,000 people to celebrate the ringing in of 2022 in Las Vegas.

Police and first responders are ready. Metro Police will deploy 1,400 officers around town, and the Nevada National Guard will be on hand, with hundreds of first responders prepared to respond.

“New Year’s Eve is typically one of the busiest nights for first responders. We will have a robust presence on the Strip,” Clark County Deputy Fire Chief Warren Whitney said at a press conference yesterday.