Las Vegas continues to thrive. More than US$9bn of new investment has been scheduled for Sin City in the course of the next few years, building on development that includes the recently opened $2.4bn Terminal 3 at McCarran International Airport, which has greatly expanded its ability to accommodate international flight arrivals. It’s a necessary expansion: nearly 200 non-stop international flights arrive in Vegas every week.
And to give these visitors more choice on where to go, for the next two years the LVCVA is focusing on its plans for the $2.5bn Las Vegas Global Business District, an overarching vision for the Las Vegas Convention Center and the surrounding area.
“This will create an international business destination by incorporating major renovation of the convention centre, leveraging the World Trade Center designation and developing transportation connectivity through a centralised hub,” says LVCVA’s senior VP of marketing, Cathy Tull.
“This transformational project will fundamentally alter the landscape of Las Vegas and cement our position as a global business centre. We should begin to see the design components of this initiative take shape in the near future.”
New infrastructure
The city offers 185 football fields of meeting and exhibition space, and convention and trade show delegates represent approximately 12.7 per cent of all visitors to the Southern Nevada region, approximately 5.1 million business travellers a year. Las Vegas’ meetings and convention industry employs approximately 58,000 people and generates as much as $6.8 billion in local non-gaming economic impact.
This year alone Las Vegas welcomes new properties including the SLS Las Vegas, The Cromwell, and The Delano and as well as the newly opened 550 foot tall High Roller observation wheel, the anchor attraction for the new LINQ entertainment district. This year also sees the start of construction on Genting Group’s Resorts World Las Vegas; an Asian-themed property complete with replica Great Wall of China.
The new SLS Las Vegas Hotel and Casino opens on The Strip in August. SLS Las Vegas is the transformed Sahara Hotel and Casino, which closed its doors in May 2011 after 59 years on the Strip. It will be an all-encompassing resort with 7,400sqm of event space, as well as 2,800sqm of flexible meeting space and a 840sqm ballroom. The SLS’ collection of restaurants and nightlife offers an array of event spaces, such as The Bazaar by José Andrés, Katsuya, Cleo, 800 Degrees, Umami Burger, The Sayers Club and The Sayers Club and The Griddle Café. The resort will house a total of 1,600 bedrooms, and joins Preferred Hotels & Resorts alongside sister property SLS Hotel South Beach, which has been a member since 2012.
Caesars Entertainment’s new boutique hotel project The Cromwell, opened in May and is now taking room bookings for its first guests this Spring. The Cromwell Hotel and Casino, positioned at the intersection of Flamingo Road and Las Vegas Boulevard will offer an exceptional luxury Las Vegas hotel experience in an intimate boutique hotel setting. On a far smaller scale than most Vegas hotels, The Cromwell will offer 188 rooms and suites, as well as Celebrity chef Giada De Laurentis’ first-ever restaurant, GIADA, which will seat 260 guests and offer a private dining room for large parties.
Further transformation has taken place at the renovated Tropicana resort, which unveiled its Sky Villa Suites, offering what the venues calls a “new level of luxury accommodation” for guests. The suites are a key part of the resort’s approximate US$200m overhaul, which includes all 1,467 guestrooms, the casino floor and restaurants, and the Tropicana Theatre.
Return of rotating shows
The return of rotating shows to Las Vegas is expected to provide a multi-million dollar boost to the city’s business derived from convention revenue this year.
The City of Second Chances welcomes 70 conventions of at least 500 attendees each during 2014, bringing an estimated 100,000 additional delegates to Las Vegas. This includes nine returning rotating shows which together attract more than 320,000 delegates for a non-gaming economic impact of US$404m. These include the CONEXPO-CON/AGG construction show, one of the largest shows held at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Other returning events include the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Week, National Association of Broadcasters and MAGIC. These 5 shows alone bring more than a half a million people to town and generate a nongaming economic impact of more than $780 million.
Of course it’s not all returning shows. The American Library Association’s annual conference and exhibition, American Wind Energy Association’s WINDPOWER and Solar Power International are all scheduled to take place in Las Vegas in 2014 for the first time. These three new shows are expected to bring an estimated 50,000 attendees generating nearly $63 million in local non-gaming economic impact.
“We are always seeking new business,” said Chris Meyer, vice president of global business sales for the LVCVA. “Las Vegas has been the number one trade show destination in North America for 19 consecutive years. We offer an array of unique resorts, world-class entertainment, unmatched customer service and the equivalent of 185 football fields of meeting and exhibition space in one convenient destination. This combination provides groups with the opportunity to conduct serious business, but also balance it with interesting team-building or networking activities.”
In addition to large-scale global events, Vegas is looking to attract special and sporting events, a draw the LVCVA hopes to take to the next level this year, according to Tull.
Every year, Las Vegas hosts some of America’s highest profile sporting events, such as NASCAR, National Finals Rodeo, USA Rugby Sevens, Electric Daisy Carnival, and the newly announced Rock in Rio, the world’s largest music festival,” says Tull.
The city offers opportunities that can easily be woven into itineraries from back-of-the-house tours to celebrity chef demonstrations; food pairing to hiking at Red Rock Canyon, or a scavenger hunt on The Strip. Its variety of entertainment, dining, and accommodation options perpetuates Las Vegas’s offering as a tempting proposition for all types of groups. Its returning shows and new infrastructure development prove the city is as alive a convention destination as ever.
This was first published in issue 76 of CMW. Any comments? Email Annie Byrne
