Number of holiday visitors on the rise

About 10,000 more visitors are expected to head to Las Vegas this Christmas holiday weekend compared with last year, industry experts say.

That's in keeping with what could be the second-busiest December travel season for Americans ever, according to AAA travel service.

The Las Vegas and Convention Visitors Authority is estimating 202,000 tourists will hit the famous Strip over the three-day weekend. That's compared with about 192,000 last Christmas, said Kevin Bagger, senior research analyst for the visitors authority.

The increase in visitors is being attributed in part to the August opening of the newest Strip megaresort - the Aladdin hotel-casino, Bagger said.

"We have seen visitor increases throughout this year," he said, adding that Las Vegas evolves each year as additional resorts and attractions open.

In the past, December was a slow time for tourism in Las Vegas. But that began to change as megaresorts started popping up along the Strip, said Alan Feldman, spokesman for the MGM Mirage, which owns the MGM Grand, Bellagio, New York-New York, Mirage and Treasure Island among others.

"New Year's has always been big," he said. "But about six or seven years ago, Christmas began to pick up and extend forward (into New Year's) about the time when Treasure Island and MGM Grand opened."

For example, among MGM Mirage resorts, "all of our hotels are sold out or at near capacity," Feldman said Friday. "There are literally a handful of rooms left (for the weekend)."

Feldman attributes the increased Christmas holiday draw to the city changing from emphasizing only gambling to a destination resort focus with the advent of the megaresort.

"The other difference is the explosion of retail here," he said, adding that Las Vegas is an affordable and central destination for families spread out across the country.

"In the last two days before Christmas, families can do their last-minute shopping and have a party, gathering and singing carols in front of the volcano." The Mirage features a periodic volcano eruption in front of the resort.

Las Vegas is beginning to buck the trend of other destination resorts because December is typically the slowest month for most resort-destination locations, Bagger said.

Then there's the New Year's holiday, which is one of the city's biggest weekends. Officials are estimating 263,000 visitors will show up for the New Year's Eve celebration, also up from last year. Last year about 251,000 visitors hit the Strip to ring in the Millennium.

Nationwide, nearly 61 million people are expected to travel sometime over Christmas and New Year's, a 4 percent increase over last year's 58.3 million, according to the automobile association. The record for December travelers was set in 1998, when 62.6 million Americans took long-distance trips.

More than 400,000 Nevadans, nearly one in five, are expected to travel at least 100 miles from home to holiday destinations, according to AAA Nevada. Three-quarters of them will travel by car, the rest by air, train or bus.

About 39 million airline passengers are expected to crowd the skies over the holiday travel season that began Dec. 15 and ends Jan. 1, reported the Air Transport Association, an industry group representing major airline carriers.

The main problem for air travelers using McCarran International Airport will be the weather in other parts of the country, airport spokeswoman Hilarie Grey said.

"Definitely, keep in touch with the airline, check the web, do what you have to do," Grey said. "Just make sure you travel with a lot of patience. There will be delays."

archive