Vegas visitor increase due entirely to leap year

More than 3.1 million people visited Las Vegas in February, a 3 percent increase from the same month last year, but local tourist officials attributed the increase to the leap year calendar, not any new hotels or restaurants.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority said the extra day in February caused the boost, and without it, visitation actually dropped about one-half of 1 percent for the month.

For the year visitation is up 1.2 percent compared with this time in 2007. However, on a per day basis visitation is down slightly, less than 1 percent.

The decline was more pronounced in room rates. The average daily rate in Las Vegas sunk 5 percent on the month to $129. It was the third time in four months rates have dropped.
2008-04-30