Las Vegas attracts more and more tourists

Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported that more than 3.1 million people came to Las Vegas in November and occupancy rates for the month were the highest since 1996. Even if it is not a popular time for travel in Las Vegas, this year in November it seems that people came in big numbers. They include in their trip Thanksgiving and the start of the holiday season.

John Piet, senior research analyst for the authority, told November tend to be one of the most flexible period for traveling. Overall occupancy was up 0.6 percent for the month, putting it 1 percent ahead of the 2005 pace. Tenancy in Las Vegas was 87.5 percent, up 1.2 percent from last year. Even though was a 6.2 percent increase in the average daily room rate to $118.19. Travels to Laughlin decreased more than 15 percent to 240,138. In Mesquite, visitor traffic increased 21 percent to 140,688.

Southern Nevada is expected to host 38.7 million people this year. There are a few events which were the attraction for tourists.

1. The Aviation Nation air show at Nellis Air Force Base. It brought about 20,000 people to the region. It happened Nov. 11 and 12, the same weekend as Veterans Day.


2. The Professional Bull Riders World Finals Nov. 2-5 at the Thomas & Mack Center. John Piet said the event, which began in October at Mandalay Bay, gather round 25,000 out of town visitors. Those greatly boosted the number of participants.


3. The National Finals Rodeo. This takes place at the end of November, on 30 Nov., and helped bring tourists in this time of the year. It also included prerodeo events. Usually it was organized in the first week in December. The rodeo contest produces huge profits. It drew together 40,000 out-of-town visitors and generated $48.5 million in nongaming returns for the area.