Visitation and other tourism indicators in 2024 met or exceeded most 2023 totals, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority said Thursday.
There was a record number of passengers at Harry Reid International Airport for the year and the key indicators of visitor volume, convention attendance, average daily room rates and occupancy rates inched upward in 2024.
“Closing out the year with December visitation of 3.4 million visitors, up 0.2 percent year over year, Las Vegas hosted approximately 41.7 million visitors for the year, up 2.1 percent from last year’s 40.8 million visitors,” said Kevin Bagger, vice president of the LVCVA Research Center. “With a strong December to end the year, Las Vegas convention attendance reached roughly 6 million for the year, matching last year’s tally.”
Earlier Thursday, the Clark County Department of Aviation reported that 58.4 million passengers passed through the gates of the city’s main airport, a 1.4 percent increase over last year’s record number.
Other figures were up slightly from the previous year.
December’s 3.7 percent increase in the average daily room rate to $193.68 brought the 2024 average up to $193.16, 1 percent higher than in 2023.
Hotel occupancy rates were up 2 percentage points to 81.9 percent in December, bringing the 2024 average to 83.6 percent, which was 0.1 percentage points higher than the 2023 average. Occupancy rates were up slightly despite hotel room inventory being down 2.6 percent to 150,612 with the closures of Tropicana and The Mirage.
While passenger numbers soared at the airport, traffic on the major highways into Las Vegas were up 3.7 percent in December, averaging at 130,656 for 2024, up 0.8 percent according to the Nevada Department of Transportation. Traffic at the California-Nevada border on Interstate 15 was off 0.3 percent to 44,072 vehicles for the year.
Visitor volume was up 3.6 percent to 1.3 million in Laughlin, but declined 9.2 percent to 833,000 in Mesquite in 2024 after a weak December.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.