Official: Increases in tourism, business and real estate has Pahrump ‘booming’

Pahrump says the town is on the rise after after a carefully-thought-out plan to draw new residents and tourists alike to the area.

The town credits increases in tourism, the housing market and businesses popping up in town, which in turn created a boom in population over the past few years.

The town, which sits in the shadow of Las Vegas, has been working its way toward becoming a tourist destination of its own.

Billing itself as “Your Base Camp to Adventure,” the town has been playing off the various adventure offerings located in and around Pahrump to bring travelers over the hump. Off-road adventures, Death Valley National Park and special events are a few of the offerings that drive tourists to town.

Pahrump has been advertising the town and events through various forms of media, which Pahrump Director of Tourism Arlette Ledbetter said has been a success.

“We are meeting and exceeding our expectations in project performance,” Ledbetter said. “We have created a multi-channel marketing strategy that has been successful on all platforms, which include print, digital and billboard marketing. The social campaigns are an integral part of our marketing projects. To date we have over 22,000 likes on Facebook, we are increasing our followers and engagement on Instagram and Twitter and we are enjoying increased website visitation and bookings.”

New and traditional events are helping boost Pahrump’s economy. New ones like Fireworks Over Pahrump, HydroFest and the Pahrump Nugget 250, added with the usual Balloon Fest, Fall Festival, Grape Stomp and more, are giving tourists more reasons to travel around the region to visit Pahrump.

The town said that these events have hiked visitation figures and drawn additional revenue to the town.

“We really are an event-driven community,” Ledbetter said. “Each unique event provides a boost to our hotel and RV occupancy as well as our overall economy. We have a diverse array of events to choose from now. The most recent addition is the Pahrump Nugget 250. An event like that has an economic impact of $15 million to its coverage area.”

Fiscal year 2016, which ran from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016 showed that 425,600 people visited Pahrump during the fiscal year, generating $75.7 million in economic impact for Pahrump. Of those visitors, the town said 207,556 of those were a direct result of special events in the valley.

To accommodate the increase in tourism, new lodging options have been added to Pahrump.

The Holiday Inn Express and Suites, which just celebrated its one-year anniversary this fall, added an additional 104 hotel rooms to town, bring the total to 418 rooms. In addition, more two-bedroom casitas at Wine Ridge Cottages and RV Resorts, were also added as of late. There are 56 cabins and 1,100 RV sites in town.

To make booking a room in town easier, the town just added new a booking widget to their website.

“The consumer can book a hotel room directly as they visit the events page,” Ledbetter said.

Ledbetter said that Pahrump’s hotels have experienced a jump in 2016, with year-to-year room taxes increasing, doubling their 2013 levels in peak months.

“We are seeing an increase in visitation,” she said. “Our room tax revenue is up 55 percent fiscal year to date as of September and 35 percent fiscal year over year.”

Given increases in both population and tourism, the demand for goods and services has also increased. As a result, more than 450 new business licenses have been issued since 2014, allowing the town to handle the surge of people and offer a larger variety of products as well.

Franchised restaurants like Carl’s Jr., Taco Bell and Dickey’s Barbecue Pit, which opened in 2016 have added familiarity to the area, sharing space with new car dealerships, pool emporiums, surplus stores, e-commerce startups and real estate agencies. The fast-growing construction and population influx have also called for additional service-based businesses, such as plumbing, electrical, beauty salons, concrete, fire protection and fabrication services.

The real estate market has been on the upswing as well, as numbers have shown an increased amount of single-family units sold in town. There were 449 single-family homes sold in Pahrump in 2016, according to the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors.

This marks the second straight year homes sales increased in the valley, as 2015 sold 408 homes, up from the 373 homes sold in 2014.

In addition, new home construction has also begun to pick up in the area.

The town said that 700 new homes were added in Pahrump with a project adjacent from Mountain Falls, and said that at least 1,500 more new homes are planned.

In a 10-month span from July 2015 to May 2016, Pahrump has issued more than 225 new home-building permits, according to the town.

Contact reporter Mick Akers at makers@pvtimes.com. Follow @mickakers on Twitter.