Visitor volumes showed a positive gain in November when 110,894 people came to Mesquite contributing to percentage increases in all categories of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) monthly report. The total visitor count was up 1.4 percent from November 2016.
Las Vegas visitor volume declined 3.7 percent with LVCVA explaining it as “part of a reduction in room inventory vs. last year” rather than any after-effect of the Oct. 1 mass shooting at a music concert. Laughlin’s visitor count showed the largest percentage gain from a year ago at 7.6 percent.
Total occupancy at Mesquite hotels and motels increased 6.1 percent to 75.8 percent. That compares to Laughlin’s total occupancy rate of 60.8 percent that increased 5.4 percent. Las Vegas citywide occupancy rate fell 2.0 percent to 84.5 percent.
Mesquite’s average daily room rate (ADR) also increased 7.6 percent to $60.46 from last year’s rate of $56.20. Laughlin’s ADR fell 1.6 percent to $41.72 while Las Vegas’s ADR decreased 4.1 percent to an average $119.66.
Revenue per available room (RevPAR) for Mesquite jumped 17.0 percent to $45.83 compared to November 2016’s rate of $39.17.
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.
RevPAR for Laughlin’s hotels and motels increased 8.0 percent to $25.37. RevPAR in Las Vegas declined 6.3 percent with downtown RevPAR coming in at $50.92 and the Strip RevPAR registering at $110.66.
Total room nights occupied in Mesquite increased 8.8 percent to 43,320 in November. That compares to a 9.7 increase in Laughlin’s room nights and Las Vegas’s 3.9 percent decrease.
Mesquite had the largest percentage increase in gross gaming revenues with an 8.8 percent rise in a year-over-year comparison. Gaming outlets took in $10.755 million during the month in Mesquite.
Laughlin had a 4.9 percent increase in gross gaming revenues. The Las Vegas Strip had a 6.0 percent decrease in gross gaming revenues, downtown Las Vegas had a 6.8 percent increase and the Boulder Strip had a slight 0.1 percent increase.
Overall, gross gaming revenues in all of Clark Country declined 3.2 percent. The LVCVA attributed the drop to “decreases in hold from baccarat and twenty-one.”
Average daily auto traffic on I-15 at the Nevada Arizona border jumped 8.0 percent to 28,360 vehicles compared to 26,259 per day last November. That compares to a 0.1 percent decrease on I-15 at the Nevada California border and an 0.6 percent rise on all major highways leading into southern Nevada.
The average daily auto traffic on Highway 163 into Laughlin increased 7.0 percent to 4,641 vehicles. Airplane arrivals and departures in Laughlin rose a healthy 12.4 percent to 23,360 passengers.
