September 19, 2005
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Las Vegas Sees growing demand for Conventions
Las Vegas Sees Growing Demand for Group Meetings
Posted on Wednesday, September 14, 2005 at 05:07PM by Jerry Wilson
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LAS VEGAS (Reuters) – Las Vegas, successful in attracting large-scale conventions, has further opportunity in the smaller-scale group meeting business, and that demand is rising, according to industry executives.
“The market for group meetings is underserved in Las Vegas,” Keith Smith, chief operating officer of casino/hotel operator Boyd Gaming Corp., said on Tuesday at a meeting in Las Vegas of the American Gaming Association.
The city’s convention bureau has forecast that 43 million people a year will visit the gambling mecca by 2009, up from 37.4 million last year.
International markets and group meetings are the focus of that projection, Smith said.
Las Vegas Sands Corp., owner of the Venetian Resort and the Sands Expo and Convention Center, has seen a 20 percent increase in rooms booked for groups over the past 12 months, according to Executive Vice President Brad Stone.
In the near term, Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent cancellation of conventions and meetings in New Orleans have driven business to Las Vegas and other cities. The New Orleans convention center has canceled all city-wide events through the end of next March.
“We were already largely sold out through 2005, although we have been able to squeeze in some meetings,” said Jim Murren, chief financial officer of MGM Mirage, owner of the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas.
He described as “phenomenal” the company’s outlook for 2006 convention business.
“Meeting planners usually shop around, try and see what’s out there. Now, if it’s available they are booking it,” Murren said.
