Christmas came early for Las Vegas with a surge of visitors to the entertainment capital of the world. For an economy that thrives on tourism dollars, Las Vegas is happy to report its first increase in almost 2 years. Although the holiday season is definitely the busiest time of the year for air travel a boost in visitors has a positive effect on the whole city.

In November, for the first time in 21 months, Las Vegas counted a month of increased year-to-year air passenger counts. The month’s 0.1 percent uptick in fliers at McCarran International Airport is small, but slightly up is better than down. McCarran’s year-to-date flier count, 37.3 million, is down 8.7 percent from 40.9 million a year ago.

There was 3,234,705 passengers that arrived in Las Vegas, up from 3,232,985 a year earlier. November’s rise was the first year-over-year monthly rise since February 2008, which had an extra day as a leap year, and only the second since October 2007. Also on the upside, two of McCarran’s top five carriers increased their flier counts in November. Southwest, the biggest carrier, ferried 1,232,772 passengers, 9.3 percent more than 1,127,564 a year earlier. American Airlines carried 179,765 passengers, up 5.4 percent from 170,610 a year earlier.

This is a relief because many carriers began cutting service to Las Vegas in September 2008 as the economy fell and fuel costs rose. The reason why many people still want to come here is because Las Vegas has done a great job of marketing itself. Vegas is not just as a place for gaming, but as a place for meetings and business. However, even if a meeting is the purpose of a trip, it doesn’t mean people won’t find their way into the casinos to gamble.

Las Vegas has had some major happenings lately with the much anticipated CityCenter grand opening, the National Finals Rodeo, and the college Macco Bowl Game. Although visitor numbers in Las Vegas increased, it didn’t reflect in the revenues produced by casinos state-wide. Nevada fell to its lowest single-month gaming revenue total in almost six years.

For a state that relies on tax money from casinos, the gaming numbers decreasing is not helping the state’s economy. There was still $49.2 million in taxes collected during November, but it was a 12.6 percent decline. Overall for this fiscal year, the casino tax collections are off 10.3 percent, meaning that other areas that rely on this funding could be affected greatly.