The good news? Las Vegas attracted significantly more visitors in July than in June, when resorts reopened following the 78-day shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The bad news? The more than 1.4 million visitors in July were only roughly 40% of the nearly 3.7 million visitors who came to Las Vegas during July 2019.
And, of course, July 2020 marked the fourth straight month of zero convention attendees.
“The convention segment continued to register no measurable volume with continued mandated restrictions on group sizes,” Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority Vice President of Research Kevin Bagger wrote in a report Thursday, when the agency released the July results for the market.
The 61% decline in visitation was not surprising, given the reduced amount of air travel into southern Nevada in addition to continued concerns over the pandemic. Nevada casinos are operating under COVID-19 health, safety, and cleaning guidelines, as well as capacity limitations and social distancing protocols.
Resorts that opened in June and July accounted for an inventory of 123,684 rooms, down from 148,000 in March, prior to the pandemic. Overall room occupancy reached 42.5% in July, while weekend occupancy was at 54.4%. Midweek occupancy on the Strip reached 36.9%. Last July, total occupancy was 91.1%.
On the Strip, the average daily room rates among open properties reached $115.68, down 15.2%, while the revenue per available room was $44.47, a decline of 61.9%, due primarily to a lack of non-gaming attractions, such as shows, and reduced retail options.
There are still several properties on the Strip that have remained closed in August – Cromwell, Oyo Hotel and Casino, Palms Resort, Park MGM, Planet Hollywood, The Rio, and Tropicana Las Vegas. MGM Resorts International reopened The Mirage on Thursday.
The visitation declines played a role in the 39.2% decline in Strip gaming revenues during July. For the first seven months of 2020, Strip gaming revenues are down 46.7%.
Air traffic through Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport topped 1.6 million in July, a decline of 64% from a year ago. For the first seven months of 2020, McCarran’s passenger volume is down 55.3%.
A telling factor is a drop in international visitation.
In July, the airport saw 5,372 passengers pass through the international terminal, a decline of more than 98% from a year ago. International visitors, slowed by travel restrictions due to the pandemic, are down 68.3% for the first seven months of the year.
Nearly all the international travelers came from Guadalajara, Mexico through Volaris Airlines. Other international travelers came from Canada on flights operated by WestJet and Air Canada.
The average daily auto traffic into Las Vegas through all major highways was an estimated 122,299 in July, down 9.9% from a year ago but 14% higher than the first two months of this year. Average daily auto traffic at the California-Nevada border on Interstate 15 was 44,332 in July, a 13% increase above the first two months of the year.
Other Southern Nevada tourism markets had similar declines during July. Downtown hotel occupancy was at 44.4% in July and the market’s gaming revenue fell 20.6%. Laughlin’s visitation declined 47.6% with gaming revenue down 17%.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgaming.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
