If Mesquite’s streets, hotels, casinos, and restaurants seemed unusually busy in July chalk it up to the almost one hundred thousand people that came to the city for a visit.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) July statistical report showed a 5.8 percent increase in July’s Visitor Volumes over that of a year ago. It equates to 99,166 people stopping in Mesquite for a few days. That’s the highest number of visitors in July since 2008 when 118,395 people were in town. Back then Mesquite had 1,000 more hotel rooms than it does now with 1,706.

July’s Visitor Volume also has a couple other unusual characteristics: there weren’t any major entertainment events like car shows or off-road rallies; the hottest month of year had more visitors than January, February, or June; it’s almost 20,000 more people than just two years ago; and it’s the second highest monthly percentage increase this calendar year.

All other statistics in the LVCVA July report also showed positive increases when compared to July 2014 except the Room Inventory number which fell slightly from 1,735 to 1,706 for a 1.7 percent decrease.

Total Occupancy increased to 72.4 percent for a 3.6 percent increase from July 2014. Couple that with a 2.1 percent increase in the Average Daily Room Rate of $51.02 and you get happy hoteliers.

The Revenue Per Available Room (RevPar) increased a healthy 7.4 percent to $36.94 from July 2014’s $34.39.

RevPar is calculated by taking the total revenue for the month and dividing by the number of rooms rented for the month. It measures revenue from hotel room rates only and does not include other sources of revenue like alcohol or gaming. It’s commonly used in the hospitality industry to measure the financial performance of and health among hotel operators.

Total Room Nights Occupied increased 3.5 percent from 37,004 last year to 38,289 this July. That’s an indicator of the number of nights hotel rooms were occupied by paid or complimentary guests.

The percentage change in Gross Gaming Revenue also showed in the black with a 1.3 percent increase year-to-year. July’s gaming revenues came in at $8.353 million dollars. All seven months of this calendar year have shown positive increases in this category. That brings the total gaming revenues so far in 2015 to $68.770 for a 2.7 percent increase year-to-date.

The Average Daily Auto Traffic counts at the 1-15 Nevada/Arizona border showed a 10.4 percent increase over last year with 28,743 vehicles running down the highway every day. Chalk it up to lower gas prices and you have the largest monthly percentage increase in this category this calendar year. It’s also the greatest number of vehicles crossing the border in any one month in 2015.

Laughlin didn’t fare as well in LVCVA’s July report showing several statistical categories decreasing percentage wise. Visitor Volume decreased by 3.7 percent, Room Inventory was down 2.5 percent, Plane Passengers decreased by a whopping 22.3 percent and most importantly, Gross Gaming Revenue decreased by 1.8 percent.

Mesquite’s sister city to the south showed increases in Total Occupancy by 1.8 percent, Average Daily Room Rate up by 2.2 percent, and RevPar rising 4.8 percent. Total Room Nights Occupied was flat percentage wise. Average Daily Auto Traffic increased by 8.4 percent.

The total Gross Gaming Revenues for all of Clark County decreased by a slight 0.2 percent in the year-to-year comparison. Las Vegas Strip gaming venues were down by 1.5 percent while Downtown venues were up by 4.3 percent and the Boulder Strip increased by 1.1 percent.

The LVCVA report says total Las Vegas Visitor Volumes in July increased from last year by 5.3 percent due in part to an additional weekend day. Average Daily Auto Traffic for all major highways into Clark County was up 8.1 percent and traffic on I-15 to and from Southern California was up 5.5 percent.

 July 2015 ActualJuly 2014 ActualPercent ChangeJuly 2015 YTDChange from July YTD
Visitor Volume99,16693,7365.8%737,5872.6%
Room Inventory1,7061,735-1.7%1,706-1.7%
Total Occupancy72.4%68.8%3.6%77.8%0.7%
Avg Daily Room Rate$51.02$49.982.1%$55.755.3%
Revenue Per Available Room$36.94$34.397.4%$43.366.2%
Total Room Nights Occupied38,28937,0043.5%284,7920.4%
Gross Gaming Revenue (in millions)$8.353$8.2481.3%$68.7702.7%
Avg Daily Traffic@ I-1528,74326,04410.4%24,7457.2%