Las Vegas continues to be a hit with leisure travelers, but an influx of road warriors helped propel Sin City to record tourism heights in 2016.
On Tuesday, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) announced that the destination hosted a record 42.9 million visitors last year, surpassing the then-record 42.3 million welcomed in 2015. The jump can be attributed to all-time high convention attendance, according to tourism officials, as Las Vegas hosted a whopping 6.3 million business travelers in 2016.
The figure represents a 7.1 percent increase from the previous year.
Of course, tourism's overall impact on the region can't be overstated. After all, the industry generates as much as $52 billion in southern Nevada and the Las Vegas valley on an annual basis. What's more, it supports approximately 370,000 local jobs.
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"Las Vegas continues to see increased interest in the destination, and we are excited to announce that once again we are celebrating record visitation," said LVCVA president and CEO Rossi Ralenkotter in a statement. "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."
Looking ahead to 2017, the LVCVA anticipates another record year for visitation, projecting the figure will surpass 43 million for the first time.
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