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Las Vegas Holiday Tourism Count Rebounds

By Chris Jones

LAS VEGAS -- The second anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks is less than two weeks away, but expectations for this year's Labor Day weekend illustrate both the vitality and shortcomings of Las Vegas' post-attack tourism industry.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority expects an average of nearly 275,000 people will visit Southern Nevada each day this weekend, up 3.8 percent from last year's holiday and slightly ahead of Labor Day weekend 2001's reported average of 274,000 daily visitors.

Weekend occupancy rates in area hotels and motels should approach 93.5 percent, up 2.1 percentage points from a year ago and closer to 2001's reported 95.5 percent occupancy rate.

Despite those apparent recovery signs, this weekend's projected visitor spending for nongaming goods and services is expected to be about $165.5 million, or $18 million below the same period two years ago. And that's 12 months after a holiday period in which spending patterns were so volatile the convention authority declined to estimate tourists' economic impact over Labor Day weekend 2001.

"The economy is still a bit sluggish," said Rob Stillwell, spokesman for Boyd Gaming Corp., which operates seven Nevada properties including the Stardust, Sam's Town and Main Street Station. "There's probably some added discretion ... with money that might otherwise have been spent on entertainment.

"It's encouraging that people are continuing to come here and eventually (spending) is going to get back to what we were used to."

Any increases in consumer reluctance didn't prevent tickets for high-end productions like Celine Dion's "A New Day" at Caesars Palace from selling out this weekend, show spokeswoman Kris Lingle said. Representatives from stores and malls across the valley are also hoping for strong activity this weekend from both visitors and locals.

Toby Stoffa, owner of the Antiquities store inside the Forum Shops at Caesars, said she's enjoyed strong sales during August as many customers focused on their children's return to school. She hopes a pro-spending attitude will prevail leading into the months to come.

"I look upon Labor Day weekend as the grand opening of shopping season," Stoffa said. "It takes us into the holiday season."

As visitors take to the Strip and nearby stores and restaurants, many locals are expected to take trips of their own. Gasoline prices in Nevada averaged $2 per gallon Wednesday, but that's not expected to keep people from traveling by automobile this weekend.

A survey by AAA Nevada said more than 291,000 state residents plan to travel more than 50 miles from home this weekend, up 3 percent from a year ago. Nearly 80 percent of those travelers, or 323,500 people, said they'll use their cars, trucks and other automobiles to reach their destinations, up about 7,000 drivers from a year ago.

McCarran International Airport expects to handle about 100,000 arriving and departing passengers each day through Tuesday, spokeswoman Hilarie Grey said. She advised travelers to arrive at least two hours before their expected departure times, and to expect the possible closure of the airport's long-term parking garage as early as Friday evening or Saturday morning.

"The garage tends to fill up on holiday weekends, but if that happens we'll have people directing drivers to the overflow lot and will have shuttles operating continually to get them back to the terminal quickly," Grey said.

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