Even though the total visitor volume count for the month of April was in the positive range compared to a year ago, other categories in the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) report were all in the negative range.

Compared to a year ago, visitor volume increased 2.6 percent in April, with 97,374 people staying in local hotels and casinos. That kept the year-to-date count increasing by 3.4 percent overall for the calendar year.

However, Total Occupancy rates fell 5.4 percent this year compared to last with only 86.7 percent of available hotel rooms booked up. In April 2011, 92.1 percent of the rooms were occupied.

And, the amount of money people paid to stay in those rooms also decreased 4.5 percent with the Average Daily Room Rate coming in at $57.28. Last year people paid $59.95 on average for those hotel rooms.

The Total Room Nights Occupied category didn't fare much better. That visitor count dropped a whopping 6.1 percent over last year with 45,856 room nights occupied versus 48,822 in April 2011.

Those numbers are an indication of how many people stay overnight in Mesquite and for how long.

The Gross Gaming Revenue category saw it's first decline in year-to-year comparisons since last August, albeit ever so slight. Total gaming dollars collected by Mesquite gambling venues in April were $11,058,000. In April 2011, those dollars equaled $11,152,000 for a 0.8 percent decline.

Compared to just one month earlier, gambling revenues dropped by $1,734,000 from March to April.

That still leaves gaming revenues in the positive range so far this year. For the first four months of 2012, gambling dollars have increased 3.6 percent from this time last year with a total of $45,302,000 coming in.

Average Daily Auto Traffic on I-15 at the Nevada/Arizona border also saw a decrease in April to 22,596 from 23,265 in April 2011, for a 2.9 percent drop.

	Apr 2012 Actual	Apr 2011 Actual	Percent Change	Apr 2012 YTD	Change from Apr 2011 YTD
Visitor Volume	97,374	94,897	2.6%	368,056	3.4%
Room Inventory	1,763	1,767	-0.2%	1,763	-0.2%
Total Occupancy	86.7%	92.1%	-5.4%	81.3%	-5.1%
Avg Daily Room Rate	$57.28	$59.95	-4.5%	$51.74	-7.3%
Total Room Nights Occupied	45,856	48,822	-6.1%	173,327	-5.4%
Gross Gaming Revenue	$11,058,000	$11,152,000	-0.8%	$45,302,000	3.6%
Avg Daily Traffic@ I-15	22,596	23,265	-2.9%	20,609	-2.6%

(All numbers courtesy of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority)