Visitor count improves slightly in May, still down for the year

LAS VEGAS - Tourism officials say the visitor count was up slightly in May, but the figures for the first five months of 1998 continue to lag behind the same period in 1997.

New figures from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority show visitor volume up 1.3 percent for May, with 2,636,908 visitors counted, compared to 2,604,163 for the same month a year ago.

But the numbers are down 1.9 percent for the first five months of 1998 - 12,631,889 visitors compared to 12,871,828 a year ago.

The decrease has been a concern, with 20,000 new hotel rooms scheduled to open over the next two years.

The new figures represent a slight improvement over April, when the visitor count was down 1.3 percent.

Convention attendance was up 5 percent in May, but remained down 6.8 percent for the first five months.

The hotel/motel occupancy was up 0.2 percent in May, from 87.3 percent to 87.5 percent. But the figure remains down 2.7 percent for the year, from 89.4 percent for the first five months of 1997 to 86.7 percent this year.

Gaming revenues for the first five months of 1998 were up 2 percent in Clark County, $2,633,583,000 compared to $2,583,048,000 a year ago. Revenues for the month of May were down 0.1 percent, from $537,518,000 to $536,919,000 this year.

Traffic at McCarran International Airport was up 1.8 percent for the month of May, from 2,569,288 passengers enplaned and deplaned in 1997 to 2,615,388 this year. The count remains down 1.9 percent for the first five months, 12,563,635 this year compared to 12,808,522 a year ago.

Southern California automobile traffic counted at the Yermo, Calif. inspection station was up 4.3 percent in May, from 429,475 a year ago to 447,986 this year. For the first five months the figure is up 0.1 percent, from 1,913,381 to 1,915,523.

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