For the first time in six months the number of visitors to Mesquite showed up in red ink with a 4.1 percent decline in March compared to a year ago.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported that 133,100 people visited Mesquite in March compared to 138,800 in March 2017.
That drop helped the total visitor numbers for the first quarter to also dip into negative territory with a 0.6 percent decline year-to-date.
The only category in the LVCVA report that came up positive for Mesquite was the gross gaming revenues that increased 3.1 percent to $13.150 million compared to $12.749 million last year.
Total occupancy for Mesquite hotel rooms dropped a miniscule 0.3 percent to a still-robust 91.5 percent overall. For comparison, Las Vegas total occupancy came in at 92.7 percent. Total room nights occupied also fell a slight 0.8 percent to 53,800 from last March’s 54,200.
Average daily auto traffic on I-15 at the Nevada Arizona border increased 7.1 percent to 29,443 vehicles each day through Mesquite.
The LVCVA report did not include figures for the average daily room rate (ADR) or revenue per available room (RevPAR) because “updated accounting rules in 2018 have varying impacts on property ADR and RevPAR calculations; as updated data become available, restated figures will be released later in the year.”
Laughlin fared only slightly better than Mesquite in the March visitor count showing a slight 0.7 increase year-over-year. The river city’s total occupancy rose 2.4 percent to 73.5 percent for the month. Total room nights occupied also increased 2.8 percent to 224,700.
Gross gaming revenues in Laughlin rose 3.0 percent from March 2017.
Airplane passengers in Laughlin increased 3.2 percent to 25,359 while average daily auto traffic also increased 0.4 percent to 5,295 vehicles crossing the Arizona Nevada border on Highway 163.
Las Vegas visitor volumes fell for the tenth straight month by 0.9 percent. The LVCVA attributed the drop to a robust March 2017 comparable visitor count.
Clark County gaming revenues rose 3.6 percent with the Las Vegas Strip leading the way showing a 9.1 percent increase. Downtown Las Vegas gaming revenues nosedived 14.2 percent from last March while the Boulder Strip saw a decline of 6.0 in a year-to-year comparison.
Daily auto traffic at the I-15 Nevada California border increased 4.2 percent to 44,919 vehicles. Traffic into Las Vegas on all major highways increased 2.9 percent in a year-over-year comparison.
