Las Vegas visitation expected to tick up for the Fourth of July

By Thomas Moore

Friday, June 30, 2017 | 2 a.m.

You can expect more this Fourth of July — more tourists, more traffic and more heat.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority expects 323,000 visitors to come to Las Vegas, that’s just about 1,000 or 0.3 percent more tourists compared to last year when the number was 322,000.

As a result, the LVCVA also expects direct visitor spending to grow to $217.7 million, up 0.1 percent from 2016 when tourists spent $217.4 million.

While the Fourth is a good holiday for tourism, it’s far from the best in terms of hotel occupancy. This year, the LVCVA is expecting a 95.3 percent citywide occupancy rate.

Last year, the highest-ranked weekend in terms of occupancy was March 18-19 (the first weekend of March Madness) when the rate was 98.8 percent. In 2015, the highest-ranked weekend was July 24-25 (several conventions, concerts and a boxing card) when the occupancy rate was 98.5 percent.

This Fourth’s increase in tourism means, of course, an increase in traffic on area roads. The Nevada Department of Transportation says it expects 60 percent of the people coming to Southern Nevada to drive here.

That means 200,000 extra cars will be sharing the road with the 104,000 vehicles driven daily along Southern Nevada’s major highways.

The increase tracks with what AAA says is happening in the rest of the country. The association — which ranks Las Vegas as the country’s ninth most popular destination from June 1 to Aug. 15 — predicts 37.5 million people will get behind the wheel on the Fourth, up 2.9 percent from last year.

Because of the increase in traffic, the RTC is asking people to plan ahead for the holiday. Click here for RTC’s app. RTC buses will run on a Saturday schedule, and riders can get to some of the Fourth of July celebrations by using the following routes:

Green Valley Ranch, Henderson. Routes 111 and 122.

Red Rock Resort. SX and Route 206.

Heritage Park, Henderson. Route 217.

Plaza. SDX and Routes 106, 207, 208 and 214.

Caesars Palace. Deuce on the Strip, SDX and Route 202.

Summerlin Council Patriotic Parade. Route 210.

Boulder City Damboree Celebration. HDX.

In addition more people and more traffic, Las Vegas will be hotter. Weather.com predicts a high of 107 degrees for Tuesday. Last year’s high was 105, and the 30-year average for the Fourth is 104, according to the National Weather Service.

The record high for July 4 in Las Vegas was 115 degrees in 1985. The record low of 60 degrees happened in 1941.