Midweek holiday blamed for dip in Las Vegas tourism for July

Las Vegas had a slight dip in visitor volume in July compared with last year, and experts say it’s a result of the midweek Fourth of July holiday and a large convention that didn’t come to Las Vegas this year.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported 3.4 million people visited the city in July, a 0.8 percent decline from July 2011.

The Independence Day holiday fell on Wednesday this year. In 2011, the holiday was on a Monday, setting up a three-day weekend. In addition, the American Sport Fishing Association convention, with an attendance of 7,200, didn’t have its annual gathering in Las Vegas this year.

The LVCVA also reported the second decline in average daily room rates of the year. Room rates were off 2.2 percent from a year earlier at $97.12 a night for the month. A 3.5 percent decline occurred in March. Citywide, occupancy fell 1.1 percentage points to 87.2 percent.

“All in all, the July data for Las Vegas was a mixed bag,” said a research report from Las Vegas-based Union Gaming. “The high-end segment had a strong month, but mass market gaming play and hotel trends were soft.”

For the year, visitation is up 1.9 percent to 23.4 million people, and the average daily room rate is up 3.4 percent to $108.13. Convention attendance is up 0.5 percent for the year, but citywide occupancy is off 0.1 percentage point to 85.2 percent for the first seven months of 2012.

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