The percentage increases in August tourism numbers for Mesquite were the biggest in Clark County according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA).
The number of visitors to Mesquite grew 14.7 percent from August 2016 coming in at 115,498 people. That’s the largest percentage increase in all of 2017 for Mesquite.
In comparison, Las Vegas reported a 2.0 percent decline in its visitor volume with the LVCVA attributing it to “a tough comparison to last year’s busiest August on record plus the impact of fewer available rooms.” Laughlin’s visitor volume also declined by a miniscule 0.4 percent.
Total occupancy in Mesquite’s hotel rooms increased 6.6 percent to 76.4 percent in August. With that, total room nights occupied jumped 23.0 percent to 45,118 compared to a year ago.
The average daily room rate increased 7.5 percent to $52.62 while revenue per available room (RevPAR) rose 17.6 percent to $40.20.
Gross gaming revenue in Mesquite casinos and bars increased a healthy 10.6 percent coming in at $8.931 million.
Average daily auto traffic on I-15 at the Nevada Arizona border rose 7.8 percent to 29,690 vehicles daily. Traffic counts on I-15 at the Nevada California border increased 2.4 percent to 49,414 vehicles a day. All major highways into Las Vegas showed a 2.3 percent rise in traffic counts in August.
Auto traffic on Highway 163 into Laughlin increased 4.4 percent to 4,890 vehicles a day. Airplane passengers into and out of Laughlin jumped 34.2 percent to 16,980.
Gross gaming revenues in Laughlin increased 6.9 percent in August while gaming revenues on the Las Vegas Strip jumped 21.3 percent. Downtown Las Vegas gaming had a 13.4 percent increase and the Boulder Strip showed a 0.8 percent increase. Combined gross gaming revenues for all reporting stations in Clark County increased 16.1 percent in August.
Total occupancy for Laughlin hotels increased a slight 0.2 percent to 63.2 percent with total room nights occupied increasing 0.3 percent.
Average daily room rates in Laughlin dropped 9.1 percent to $48.41 and RevPAR also dropped 8.8 percent to $30.60.
