Las Vegas isn’t the kind of place that goes quietly about its business. Ever since the state
of Nevada passed its gambling bill in 1931 in a bid to raise taxes for local schools, the city
has radiated a neon glare over the worlds of business and entertainment.
The destination’s clichés, of course, are familiar even to those who have never visited
– the showgirls, the betting halls, the glitzy extravaganza and the turbo-charged nightlife.
But as the city’s visitor numbers touch the 40 million mark and convention business does its bit to push non-gaming revenue to equal casino profits for the first time, 2007 is a good time to take a fresh look.
HUGE INVESTMENT
“If you haven’t been here in the past few years, it’s almost like you haven’t been at all,” say Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority (LVCVA) vice-president of sales Nancy Murphy. “What’s changed? Everything. The investment has been incredible. Even the older properties have transformed themselves into high-end resorts with a new vibe for the younger set. We’ve got 131,000 rooms and yearround occupancy is at 90 per cent. There’s been a huge number of prestigious openings and widespread acceptance by the corporate world. Banking, pharmaceutical and insurance services are now taking Las Vegas seriously.”
There’s substance to this claim. Putting white tigers, roulette wheels and replica Eiffel
Towers to one side, this is a place where figures are big and getting bigger – and not just in
the steakhouses. The latest conference visitor numbers have risen 20 per cent since 2002
to the current total of 6.2 million. More than 140, 000 delegates attended January’s CES
electronics meeting, while Unilever and Diageo are among the recent corporate visitors.
NEW OPENINGS
The cascade of swish new openings in recent years includes properties by Ritz-Carlton,
Four Seasons, JW Marriott and the five diamond rated Wynn, and there are a further
41, 000 hotel rooms planned by 2010.
Celebrity chef- endorsed fine dining has become omnipresent, while countless designer boutiques and luxury ‘ultra-lounges’ have made the destination prime. ‘A- list’ territory. Dubai, eat your heart out.
Zurich Financial Services recently took a group of 140 to the city. “If the key object of an incentive is to lay on a travel experience that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to fund
or organise, Las Vegas is perfect,” says head of events Jacqui Davies. “It’s very aspirational.”
The monorail, which runs the length of the Strip, is another new millennial addition, and spans one of the most regenerative visitor destinations on the planet. Among the household names – The Bellagio, Caesar’s Place, MGM Grand, Luxor et al – are more than a few building sites. So what’s on its way?
The big news for this year is the Palazzo Resort-Casino, which opens shortly as a deluxe 3,025-room addition to the already remarkable Venetian. Also, the Echelon Place will open in 2010 on the old site of the Stardust Hotel as a colossal four-hotel complex aimed at luxury visitors. And while trumping the lot is MGM’s Citycentre project – a US$7 billion self-contained city.
Due to be unveiled in 2009, it will offer more than 6,000 rooms and units (including a 400-room Mandarin Oriental), 20,900 sqm of meeting space, a 6,500 sqm spa and a gargantuan array of top-drawer facilities.
FOREIGN VISITORS
At present, 13 per cent of visitors arrive from outside of the US. Access is not a problem. Las
Vegas McCarran Airport itself is in the process of building a new domestic terminal, while the
international terminal is also set for an upgrade.
Enticements are rife. As well as the wide array of must-see bars and clubs – sleep becomes nothing short of an inconvenience – the technicolour roll call of nightly stage shows includes not only Monty Python’s Spamalot, but the much acclaimed Beatles/Cirque de Soleil collaboration, Love.
Book early – it matches the hype emphatically.
For incentive groups the appeal has always needed little explanation. But surely business
events still run the risk of being undermined by the 24-hour adult playground?
Not according to Brisa Villarreal, executive meetings manager at the Mandalay Bay Resort. “The past few years have proved a lot of people wrong who felt Vegas couldn’t be a serious conference destination”, she says.
“The facilities are world-class and organisers are recognising that we draw a dividing line
between work and leisure. On top of that, sales forces want to be here so it drives attendance and creativity. It’s an extremely energetic place in every respect.
With function space ranging anywhere from dolphin pools and 64th floor terraces to palm-treed golf courses and inch-perfect replica Munich beer halls, itineraries are pretty failsafe. And did we mention the 360 days of sunshine?
LAS VEGAS DIRECTORY
Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority
Contact Nancy Murphy, vice-president, sales
Tel +1 702 892 0711
(Japan office +81 3 3358 3265)
Email nmurphy@Ivcva.com
Web www.Ivcva.com;
www.VisitLasVegas.jp
Flight 14 hours from Hong Kong (one stop)
19 hours from Singapore (one stop)
Time GMT -7 hours
