LV visitor count inches lower in September

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Las Vegas visitation dipped slightly in September but the percentage of full rooms increased.

About 3.3 million people visited during the month, a decrease of less than 1 percent from the previous September.

But hotel occupancy rates rose almost 1 percent because there were fewer available rooms.

The price of rooms also increased almost 22 percent to more than $142 per night on average.

Convention visitation for the month was down almost 3 percent about 851,000. Leisure visits increased 1.8 percent to just over 2.8 million.

The number of vehicles coming in from Southern California decreased almost 4 percent. But the decrease was offset partly by an increase of more than 2 percent in air traffic.

For the year visitation was at 29.6 million through September, that's less than 1 percent of the pace from last year.

Visitation numbers were mixed for other Southern Nevada markets. In Laughlin visitation was down 3 percent to 244,311. For the year Laughlin is down 7.5 percent to 2.4 million visitors through September.

Mesquite visitation was up almost 7 percent for the month to nearly 135,000. Through September 1.2 million people visited Mesquite, up 1.3 percent from the 2006 pace.

Room rates in those markets defied the visitation trends. In Mesquite the September rate was down 6 percent to about $69 per night. In Laughlin the rate increased almost 9 percent to about $45.