Las Vegas, which means “the meadows” in Spanish, has come a long way since it began as a sleepy railroad town in 1905. This high-energy meeting destination now offers more than 140,000 guest rooms ranging from value-priced accommodations to luxurious four and five-star resorts, with thousands more guest rooms expected to be added by year’s end. And the city’s convention and exhibit space is rapidly heading toward the 10 million square foot mark.
Of course, Las Vegas has never had a reputation for being all work and no play. When the day’s meetings are over, casinos, golf, shopping, spas, fine dining and big name shows offer attendees plenty of enjoyable ways to wind down. It’s no wonder that the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority has found that attendance increases by 14% when Las Vegas is announced as the meeting destination.
Airport: McCarran International Airport is conveniently located approximately one mile from the Las Vegas Strip. The airport’s two terminal buildings contain more than 50 retail shops and more than 50 restaurants, lounges and snack bars. Passengers departing from McCarran on Delta, Frontier, Southwest, United or US Airways can save time by using the “Airport SpeedCheck Advance” service to check their bags before arriving at the airport. The service is available at the Venetian and Luxor hotels, the Las Vegas Convention Center, and the McCarran Rent-A-Car Center (a service fee applies).
Airlift: Currently, 29 airlines provide nonstop service to more than 130 domestic and international destinations. Typical flying times are four hours, 40 minutes from New York; three hours, 55 minutes from Chicago; and one hour, 15 minutes from Los Angeles.
Convention Center: The Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC), with 3.2 million square feet of exhibit, meeting and event space, ranks high atop the list of the country’s premier convention facilities, a perennial competitor to Orange County Convention Center in Orlando and Moscone Center in San Francisco for top-dog status. Located just three miles from McCarran International Airport and just blocks from major Strip hotels, LVCC delivers unparalleled convenience. The facility, currently undergoing a major renovation and expansion that has been temporarily halted by the current economic downturn, features 1,940,631 square feet of exhibit space, along with 241,536 square feet of meeting space, which includes 144 meeting rooms ranging in capacity 20 to 2,500.
Convention & Visitors Bureau: The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) is responsible for the worldwide marketing of Southern Nevada as a meetings and convention destination. The Authority also operates the LVCC and Cashman Center and it offers a wide variety of meeting planner resources on its web site, including a “Hot Rates & Hot Dates” search tool. For more information, visit www.lvcva.com
Golf courses: Whether golfers are looking for traditional, links, or desert-style golf, they’ll find it among the more than 50 courses located in Las Vegas and the surrounding area. A few notable choices are the Bali Hai Golf Club which has the unique distinction of being located right on the Strip, and the TPC Las Vegas, the only public PGA Tour course in Las Vegas. Avid golfers won’t even have to despair when a packed meeting schedule leaves no time for daytime golf. The Calloway Golf Center features a lighted par 3 called the Divine Nine.
Attractions: Only in Las Vegas can visitors watch an erupting volcano at The Mirage, head over to see the dancing fountains at the Bellagio then take in a bird’s eye view of the Strip from the top of the Eiffel Tower at Paris. And what top achiever wouldn’t love to be awarded with a hot ticket to a big name show like Blue Man Group, Better Midler or Cirque de Soleil’s KÀ? Major attractions away from the city include the Grand Canyon (3 hours driving time to the West Rim, 5.5 hours to the South Rim), and tours of the engineering marvel known as the Hoover Dam (35 miles south).
Activities: In addition to 24-hour casinos, indoor activities include shopping, spas, museums and arcades. Outdoors enthusiasts can choose from such varied options as golf, swimming, lounging by the pool, hiking, hot air balloon rides and helicopter tours.
FACT FILE
Population: According to the latest figures from the U.S. Census Bureau, the population of metropolitan Las Vegas is 1,836,333.
Metropolitan area (MSA): The metro area includes Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Henderson, the Las Vegas Strip, Summerlin, and the unincorporated communities of Winchester, Paradise, Enterprise and Spring Valley.
Topography: Las Vegas is located in the Mojave Desert at 2,030 feet above sea level. The city is set in an arid basin surrounded by the Frenchman, Spring, Sheep and McCullough mountain ranges.
Climate: Las Vegas has an arid desert climate and enjoys an average of 320 days of sunshine each year. The average temperature is 66.3 degrees, with average highs running from 57 degrees in January to 104 degrees in July. But remember, it’s a dry heat!