LAS VEGAS -- Officials say Las Vegas drew a record number of visitors for a third straight year, attracting 42.9 million tourists to town in 2016.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported Tuesday that the region drew 600,000 more visitors last year than the 42.3 million tallied in 2015.
Authority chief executive Rossi Ralenkotter says the agency wants to top 43 million in 2017.
In addition to hosting millions of leisure visitors, officials say Las Vegas drew a record 6.3 million conventioneers last year.
The public agency doesn't disclose how it calculates its widely publicized number. Officials consider the method they've used for more than 40 years proprietary.
They say they factor occupancy levels at the region's nearly 150,000 hotel rooms, plus travel habits, airline passenger counts and freeway traffic.
