Las Vegas: Meetings and Convention Industry Reaches Five-Year High in Las Vegas

Las Vegas welcomed nearly 40 million visitors in 2013 and reached a five-year high in two key indicators for the meetings and convention industry.

The 2013 year-end statistics, released today by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), point to continued recovery and steady growth for the industry. Las Vegas tourism generates $45 billion in economic impact for the local economy and supports more than 380,000 local jobs.

Despite one fewer day last year due to 2012 being a leap year and less room inventory for the majority of the year, visitor volume was just 58,802 visitors shy of setting a record in 2013. Las Vegas hosted 39.67 million annual visitors last year, the second highest visitation total ever.

“We are encouraged to see positive signs of continued growth for Nevada’s leading economic engine, particularly in the meetings and convention industry,” said Rossi Ralenkotter, president/CEO of the LVCVA. “We will continue building on our momentum in the coming year, and we expect to welcome more visitors to Las Vegas than ever before when several much anticipated resorts and attractions debut in 2014.”

Las Vegas is well positioned for continued growth with scheduled openings of The LINQ and High Roller, SLS Las Vegas, Delano Las Vegas, Caesars Entertainment’s new resort – The Cromwell, on the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Flamingo Road, and the downtown zipline SlotZilla among other new attractions and entertainment options expected to be unveiled in 2014. More than $9 billion of worth of projects have been announced or are currently under construction in Las Vegas.

Other year-end highlights:

• The meetings and convention industry reached a five-year high with 5.1 million delegates attending a convention, trade show or meeting in 2013, reflecting a 3.3 percent increase over last year’s total of 4.9 million. This is the highest convention attendance since 2008.
• Las Vegas hosted 22,027 meetings, trade shows or conventions in 2013, up 1.9 percent from the 2012 total of 21,615. The 2013 total is also the highest number of meetings and conventions held in Las Vegas since 2008.
• Average citywide occupancy held steady at 84.3 percent for 2013. Las Vegas’ citywide occupancy is 22 percentage points higher than the national average of 62.3 percent. With industry-leading occupancy of 84.3 percent for its 150,593 rooms, Las Vegas fills more rooms per night on average than any destination in North America.
• Las Vegas’ average daily room rate increased $3 to nearly $111 in 2013.
• Clark County gross gaming revenue reached $9.7 billion in 2013, a 2.9 percent increase over 2012. While Downtown Las Vegas was down just 1.6 percent, the Las Vegas Strip revenues increased 4.8 percent to $6.5 billion for the year.

Additional information regarding Las Vegas 2013 visitors will be available later this spring when the LVCVA releases its annual Visitor Profile Study, detailing visitor trends, attitudes, behaviors and spending habits while visiting the destination.