Photo courtesy of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority
After some tough years during the recession, Las Vegas is back on its feet, aided by its expansive meetings and conventions sector.
In 2013, meetings and conventions generated $7.4 billion in economic impact for Las Vegas, while total economic output per employee grew by 3 percent, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA). The 5.1 million convention and trade show delegates that attended the 22,000 meetings and conventions helped Vegas welcome nearly 40 million visitors that year.
Flash-forward to 2014. Vegas eclipsed 40 million visitors for the first time ever with two weeks to spare in the year, again largely helped by its meetings industry. That included welcoming more than five million convention attendees to follow up 2013.
Recently, Cvent, which specializes in meetings management technology, named its "Top 100 Most Popular Meeting Resorts in North America." The top nine are located on the Las Vegas Strip. That includes (in order of rank): ARIA Resort & Casino, the Venetian and Palazzo Resort, Hotel & Casinos; Bellagio Hotel & Casino; The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Autograph Collection; MGM Grand Hotel & Casino; Mandalay Bay Resort; Wynn Las Vegas; Caesars Palace Las Vegas; and the Mirage.
Each of the nine meeting resorts features more than 100,000 square feet of meeting space.
ARIA has 300,000 square feet of convention and meeting space, with three levels of 38 meeting rooms and four ballrooms capable of accommodating gatherings up to 5,000 people.
The Mandalay Bay Convention Center currently encompasses 1.7 million square feet, with plans to increase the space by 350,000 square feet by early 2016. It has one meeting space that takes up more than 577,000 square feet by itself.
This past fall, Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas renovated its 30,000 square feet of meeting space. Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas also invested in facilities, adding a 1,900-square-foot meeting and event space called The Gallery that holds 200 people and increases its meetings capacity to more than 14,000 square feet total.
On top of that, the LVCVA has proposed the Las Vegas Global Business District, a two-phase project that includes expanding and renovating the Las Vegas Convention Center. When all is said and done, the district would add 750,000 square feet of new exhibit space, more than 187,000 square feet of supporting meeting space, a 100,000 square foot general session space and another 100,000 square feet of meeting space to the Convention Center.
The Convention Center already hosts 1.2 million convention delegates every year, while supporting 14,000 local jobs and generating an annual economic impact of $1.7 billion, according to the LVCVA. The $2.3 billion expansion, which could take nearly 10 years to complete, would provide approximately 6,000 construction jobs and generate $3.6 billion in economic activity during construction alone, as the LVCVA notes. When it is complete, it could generate 6,000 permanent jobs, generate $700,000 in economic impact and make way for an additional 480,000 meetings attendees.
Also included in the proposal: a global business center that utilizes the World Trade Center designation and the development of a transportation hub that would be at the center of a more efficient and expanded transportation system in the Las Vegas Valley.
Las Vegas has good reason to be prideful of its meetings and conventions sector, but don't expect the top tourist destination to leave it at that, either. Vegas continues to build upon its prestige as a top business destination, in addition to its reputation as a premier leisure hotspot.
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