Valley visitation strong

Maybe the next "what happens here, stays here" ad should ask tourists to start sharing rooms.

Las Vegas hotels enjoyed their ninth consecutive month with occupancy above 90 percent in October but lack of new inventory kept visitation flat.

In short: the only way to bring in more people is to convince them to start doubling up.

About 3.4 million people came to Las Vegas in October, almost the precise number who visited Sin City the same month last year.

The guests kept occupancy rates above 92 percent and pushed the total number of visitors this year to nearly 33 million, about the same number who visited during the first 10 months of last year.

"We matched what was a pretty strong October last year," said Kevin Bagger, director of Internet marketing and research for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

Although October was strong for visitation, hotel operators had to work for the business.

The average daily room rate for the month held steady at $135, it was the first month without a year-over-year increase since April 2003 when rates dipped slightly compared to 2002.

The room bargains could have been the result of hotels pursuing leisure guests to make up for several large conventions that were in Las Vegas last autumn but didn't return this October.

Bagger said conventions for dentists, convenience store workers and owners and technology geeks that drew nearly 80,000 attendees in October, 2006 didn't happen this year.

That resulted in a 21 percent decrease in convention attendance, which is typically more lucrative than tourist visits. The conventiongoers left behind about $505 million in nongaming economic activity, a 19 percent decline from the same month last year.

The room squeeze should ease in upcoming years with about 33,000 new rooms scheduled for construction by 2010 at a cost of about $29 billion to resort companies.

In Laughlin visitation fell nearly 3 percent on the month and at 2.7 million so far this year is down 7 percent from the 2006 pace. Laughlin room rates fell 21 percent to $79.

Nearly 150,000 people visited Mesquite in October, about the same as in 2006. For the year Mesquite visitation is up about 1 percent to nearly 1.4 million. Room rates in Mesquite jumped 30 percent in October to about $83 per night.

Contact reporter Benjamin Spillman at bspillman@reviewjournal.com or (702) 477-3861.