The city of Las Vegas and Las Vegas hotels observed a 2.5 percent rise in guests this past December compared with December of 2010. These findings are providing evidence that the troubled economy in Nevada and Las Vegas has begun to take a turn for the best.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority recently documented that nearly 3 million people visited Las Vegas in December of 2011.

The visitor count in Las Vagas increased by 4.3 percent in 2011 compared with the total visitors in 2010. Conference and convention attendance also increased by 9 percent to nearly 4.9 million another positive sign for hotels and convention centers in Las Vegas.

The increased numbers of visitosr also helped create a 5 percent increase in gambling revenue in 2011 compared to 2010.

The rising tourist numbers point to potentially exciting news for the state of Nevada, which heavily relies upon hotel tourism and convention attendance. Nevada has suffered through the highest unemployment rates in the United States over the past year.