Record 42.9m Tourists Flock to Las Vegas in 2016

For the last couple of years, Las Vegas has seen its tourism figures reach record heights, and 2016 was no exception with an unprecedented 42.9 million people visiting Sin City, according to the latest information released by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Association (LVCVA).
As well as 2016 visitor numbers marking a 1.5% improvement compared to the previous year, other important tourism indicators also pointed to the robust state of Las Vegas’ economy. Occupancy rates, for instance, reached 89.2%, or 1.4% higher than in 2015; convention attendance soared by 7.1% to 6.3 million, while even average daily room rates saw a 4.5% increase to $126.
According to Kevin Bagger, Executive Director of the LVCVA, amongst the many contributing factors helping to lift the Las Vegas tourism market in 2016 was the $1.2 billion it received from private investment that subsequently went towards developing new gaming and non-gaming attractions.
“We tend to get a constant reinvestment in our infrastructure,” explained Bagger.
Chief beneficiaries of such investments in 2016 included the MGM Resorts International’s T-Mobile Arena and the Lucky Dragon hotel-casino which received $375 million and $373 million respectively. Other venues also includes the Park Theater ($100m), Caesars Palace’s Julius Tower ($75m), TopGolf at MGM Grand ($50m) and SpeedVegas ($30m).
Elsewhere around the state, Mesquite saw its tourist number rise by 11.4% to 1.3 million, while Laughlin noted a more moderate increase of 1.2% to 1.9 million.
Looking ahead, Kevin Bagger stated that although 2016 will prove “a hard year to beat,” he was still anticipating around 43.2 million visitors to Las Vegas this year. Key to Las Vegas’ future growth are the significant efforts it goes to in order to attract visitors from all around the world. Just as it anticipated the increasing importance of the Chinese market in the 2000’s, for instance, the emerging market of India is currently on its radar, and last year Nevada’s first representative office was opened in New Delhi. Elaborating further, Bagger said:
“Together with our resort partners, we look forward to aggressively marketing the destination around the world to continue attracting more visitors and break the record again this year.”