For Las Vegas travel, 2011 was almost a record-breaking year. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Bureau announced that Las Vegas attracted 38.9 million visitors in 2011, the second highest total in history and just shy of the all-time record high of 39.2 million set in 2007.
"We were just shy of 39 million visitors in 2011," said Art Jimenez, director of leisure sales for the LVCVA. "We had 38.9 million, which is pretty darn close. For all of our partners, Vegas continues to be number one for their business from a single destination point of view."
The destination has enjoyed visitor growth for almost two consecutive years. "The most telling tale is that we've had 22 consecutive months of visitor increase," said Jimenez. "We were still cautious for a while, because we were comparing a bad month to better months. We can't look into the future, but we think it will reach 24 months in a row. What that says about the destination is that we just keep reinventing ourselves, which is a testament to properties reinvesting millions into in brand new room products and restaurants."
While hotel occupancy and rate data for 2011 is not yet available, the city is aggresively targeting travel agents with promotions and incentive opportunities. "We're constantly trying to find ways to identify sellers of travel and reward them, so we run booking incentives continuously now," said Jimenez. "Whereas in the past they were just in need periods, we run them consistently now because we want agents to keep their eye on the ball. We're the putting finishing touches on our programs for March to June, agents should stay tuned for more incentives centered around Cash In On Vegas."