Las Vegas visitor volume jumps in 2011

Southern Nevada’s tourism economy continued its steady march back from recession in December.

The final month of 2011 brought nearly 3 million visitors to the local economy, for a yearly total of 38.9 million visitors, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported Thursday. That makes 2011 the city’s second-best year ever for visitor volume. The statistic was also just 300,000 people below a record 39.2 million in 2007, and it was up 4.3 percent over 2010′s 37.3 million. Authority officials had projected a 2.5 percent gain, said Scott Russell, the authority’s senior manager of research.