Photo courtesy of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority
An economic impact report commissioned by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority was presented to the LVCVA on Tuesday by Applied Analysis.
The report makes Vegas tourism and the LVCVA's efforts look even better.
The LVCVA announced at the end of 2014 that Sin City brought in a record 41.1 million visitors for the year, backed up by the Applied Analysis report.
There was a 3.7 percent increase in visitors, year-over-year, according to the report. On top of that, expenditures per visitor rose 4.2 percent (or $33) to $733 spent per visitor. Overall, visitors spent roughly $29.7 billion in Vegas in 2014. Including indirect and induced impacts, the value of Vegas tourism was pegged at $50 billion, nearly 54 percent of Southern Nevada's total gross product ($93 billion).
Of course, to accommodate this many visitors, Vegas had to hire more than a few people. According to the report, Vegas employed 233,000 people in 2014, 27.3 percent of the total for all of Southern Nevada (854, 700). Direct tourism workers collectively earned $9.3 billion, up 8 percent from 2013. This accounted for nearly 25 percent of the $37.5 billion in wages and salaries for Southern Nevada. Including indirect and induced impacts, Vegas travelers supported more than 365,500 jobs (43 percent of total gross product) and nearly $13.9 billion in wages and salaries (37 percent of gross product).
Convention and meeting attendance was also strong for Vegas in 2014, rising 1.2 percent to 5.2 million trips. This accounted for 13 percent of all visitors to Vegas. Directly, the convention sector employed 31,600 workers and paid $1.3 billion in wages and salaries, generating an economic output of $4 billion. Including indirect and induced impacts, convention attendees supported more than 49,500 jobs, $1.9 billion in wages and salaries and $6.77 billion in economic output.
On the other hand, it is worth noting that there was a decrease in average spending per convention attendee, which resulted in a 9.6 percent decrease in the direct economic impact of the convention segment, year-over-year. The decrease in spending per attendee, the report notes, was largely due to declines in gaming budgets and transportation expenditures. Also, the LVCVA reported average daily rate (ADR) instead of using visitor surveys in 2014 to more accurately reflect lodging expenditures. Lodging spend was down from 2013, in this sense.
But, overall, the LVCVA has to be pretty happy with the numbers presented on Tuesday. Vegas is booming more than even before.
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