The answers to those questions and others are in a new research report released this week by GLS Research on behalf of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

The 2005 Visitor Profile Study is designed to show the attitudes, behavior and spending habits of tourists who visit here so that the LVCVA and local resorts can more effectively market to them.

The survey was based on interviews conducted of 3,478 people over several days in various locations around Las Vegas.

Kevin Bagger, the LVCVA's director of Internet marketing and research, said there wasn't a lot that surprised him in the latest edition of the report, which has been conducted for the last 30 years.

"I think it accurately mirrored our record number of visitors," Bagger said of the 38.5 million people who came to the city in 2005.

In many categories, patterns were pretty much the same as they have been for the last two years. But there are some subtle shifts in some categories and it will be interesting to see if those shifts are trends.

For example, the average age of the typical Las Vegas visitor decreased from 49 to 47.7 years last year. That's not a big surprise, as resorts attempt to appeal to broader demographics with features such as nightclubs and attractions that appeal to Gen-Xers more than Baby Boomers.

"The Baby Boomers are still the leading demographic," Bagger said. "But I think we're broadening our appeal to younger people."

The ethnic background of the typical visitor is 83 percent white, 7 percent Hispanic, 5 percent Asian and 4 percent black, according to the study.

The survey indicated that most people who visit Las Vegas make more than $60,000 a year, with 24 percent stating income of between $60,000 and $80,000, 15 percent making between $80,000 and $100,000 and 22 percent saying they make more than $100,000 a year.

Visitors to Las Vegas are spending more—maybe that's because the price of everything is continuing to rise—with food and beverage expenditures rising from $238 in 2004 to $248 last year and shopping trip expenditures rising from $124 to $137.

While those expenditures rose only a few dollars, the amount budgeted for gambling increased 15 percent, from $545 to $627 a trip. In 2003, the amount was $491.

The average time per day devoted to gambling also increased. According to the survey, visitors spent 3.6 hours gambling compared with 3.3 hours a day the year before.

An interesting statistic that is good news for local resorts is that the proportion of visitors who said they would be "more likely" to visit Las Vegas, even though gaming is available in other destinations increased from 29 percent in 2004 to 39 percent last year.

The proportion of visitors from California and from overseas has remained fairly constant over the last three years. Californians represented 33 percent of tourists last year, 31 percent in 2004 and 34 percent in 2003. The percentage of international visitors went from 12 percent in 2003, to 13 percent in 2004 back to 12 percent last year.

Despite the emphasis on tour packages and deals in which visitors purchased plane tickets and lodging in one deal, the percentage of tourists buying them fell from 19 percent in 2003 and 2004 to 17 percent in 2005. But, the average price of a tour package climbed from $484 in 2003 to $561 in 2004 and $571 in 2005.

Fewer people are using travel agents than they did in 2003. The percentage of tourists who said they use them was at 22 percent in 2003, 20 percent in 2004 and 17 percent last year.

How far in advance do most Las Vegas visitors make their plans? According to the report, most—about 24 percent—plan their trips two weeks to a month ahead. Twenty-two percent plan a month or two ahead, 20 percent make their plans more than three months in advance and 17 percent plan a week or two ahead.

The percentage of people who arrived by plane and by ground transportation stayed the same as last year, with 47 percent flying and 53 percent driving or taking a bus.

Fewer people are doing much walking once they get to Las Vegas, the survey said. While 56 percent said they walked in 2003, only 24 percent did so last year. But 17 percent said they rode the Las Vegas Monorail while they were here compared with 8 percent in 2004 and 4 percent in 2003. Eight percent rode a bus, down from the 17 percent reported in 2003 and 2004.

The Strip's popularity continued to show in the survey's question about where people stayed and that has stayed constant over the last three years. In each year, 74 percent of the respondents said they stayed on the Strip, 10 percent stayed in outlying areas, 9 percent stayed downtown and 5 percent stayed on Boulder Highway.

The survey said 86 percent of those asked gambled while in Las Vegas, down one point from 2004 and two points from 2003. And what did they play? To the surprise of practically no one in Las Vegas, slot machines continue to be the game of choice, with 59 percent citing them (down from 65 percent in 2003). Over the same time frame, blackjack increased in popularity, from 15 percent to 18 percent, video poker increased from 9 percent to 10 percent, craps fell from 5 percent to 4 percent and other table games climbed from 2 percent to 6 percent.