After Las Vegas welcomed more than 40 million visitors for the first time in its history in 2014, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) is projecting the tourism hotspot to accommodate roughly 41.6 million visitors in 2015, according to Richard N. Velotta of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
In fact, Kevin Bagger, the LVCVA's senior director of strategic research and analysis, said at Tuesday's board meeting that he expects Vegas' final tally for 2014 to be about 41.1 million when everything is counted up, shattering its previous record of 39.7 million visitors set in 2012, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal report.
The LVCVA's projections are based on two main developments: the national economy improving and an expected increase in airport capacity. Bagger said domestic air capacity is anticipated to grow by 3 percent in 2015. Alaska Airlines, Allegiant Air, Frontier Airlines, JetBlue, Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines and Virgin America have already announced their service capabilities for the year.
With more capacity on airlines comes greater visitation. Vegas' occupancy rate could reach 86.8 percent in 2015, blowing away the nation as a whole, which is expected to garner a 64.1 percent occupancy rate.
It's nothing new for Vegas to see such grand numbers. Bagger said it's become the standard in Vegas to expect a gap of 20-25 percent when it comes to occupancy.
Vegas visitation rose 3.5 percent from 2013 to 2014. There were also increases in other key areas, including conference attendance (up 1.2 percent to 5.2 million), average daily rate (up 5.4 percent) and revenue per available room (up 8.4 percent).
Vegas now boasts 150,544 total rooms after the additions of The Cromwell and SLS Las Vegas in 2014. That number will increase even more with more additions in 2015 and 2016. And, of course, the Genting Group megaresort Resorts World Las Vegas is slated for 2017, effectively offering another 3,000 rooms where Stardust used to be.
Making a little bit more room for passengers who want to visit Vegas should help Vegas' domestic numbers. The destination experienced flat domestic capacity growth in 2014, compared to 2013.
On the other hand, international capacity skyrocketed 13.1 percent in 2014. In effect, Vegas was the fastest-growing international market for the second straight year (Canadian and Mexican airlines were huge contributors, increasing capacity by 23 percent and 22 percent, respectively). Low-cost Mexican airline Volaris' route from Vegas to Cancun was popular, particularly for-interestingly enough-South Koreans who would connect in Vegas before heading off to the honeymoon hotspot.
Vegas isn't the same old Vegas, though. As UNLV Center for Gaming Research Director David Schwartz told KLAS-TV Las Vegas, new concerts, festivals and nightlife allowed Vegas to post record setting numbers in 2014. While casinos obviously had a hand in the overall numbers, it was the other offerings that really boosted Vegas numbers from one year to the next.
Vegas also appears to be getting younger. According to the LVCVA, the average visitor age now is 45 years old, down from 50 years old in 2009.
One thing's for sure: Whatever Vegas is doing, keep doing it.
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