by Ray Smith, Exhibit City News
Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority approved an expenditure of $386,000 to exhibit at the 2023 World Route Development Forum in Istanbul, Turkey, and $881,000 for floor space and a booth at IMEX America at Mandalay Bay Convention Center, both events coming in October.
The 14-member LVCVA board voted unanimously, without comment or questions, to staff these influential trade shows at its Aug. 8 monthly meeting. The board also approved $2.25 million to sponsor the NBA In-Season Tournament to be held at T-Mobile Arena in December.
Participation in the World Route Forum, scheduled for Oct. 14–17, will aid Las Vegas in its goal of increasing international air service, which has lagged domestic service returning to Las Vegas following the pandemic, says Fletch Brunelle, vice president of marketing for the convention authority.
International flights are coming in at about 80 percent of pre-pandemic levels, and Brunelle wants to see it go to 90 percent in December.
“We actually held the first Routes World in 2013,” he notes. Since then, Las Vegas has added 86 cities and increased capacity by 40 percent, or 27,000 seats a day. “We’ve had a strong relationship. As you look at route planners, we show up in the world with some impact.”
Routes World 2023 is expected to draw more than 3,000 airline route planners, airport officials and tourism agencies. It’s an important part of developing air service for Las Vegas, Brunelle says.
Last year, Las Vegas enticed Avianca Airlines to initiate first-time service from San Salvador, El Salvador, and coaxed Virgin Atlantic to restore service three times a week from Manchester, England, which ranks behind only London and Tokyo for service outside North America.
In addition to $386,000 for designing and building its booth for Routes World, LVCVA allocated $46,000 for exhibit space, $5,000 for client entertainment, $3,000 for promotional materials and shipping, and $3,000 for show services (food and beverage), for a total of $443,000.
IMEX AMERICA
The authority will spend $550,000 for booth design and construction at IMEX America, the largest gathering of travel buyers and meeting planners, and $331,000 for exhibit space at Mandalay Bay Convention Center, Oct. 17-19.
Organizations participating in IMEX America include Meeting Professionals International (MPI), Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA), Corporate Event Marketing Association (CEMA), International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE), SITE Global, and Destinations International.
IMEX started at Sands Expo and moved to Mandalay Bay in 2021. Last year’s attendance topped 12,000, including 3,380 hosted buyers, and LVCVA staff expects stronger attendance this year.
“It’s the must-attend event for my team in particular,” says Lisa Messina, LVCVA’s chief sales officer. “We’ve been doing it for 10 years.It’s an opportunity to engage customers with our (hotel) partners. It allows us to tell what’s new and different in Las Vegas and also showcase how we do trade shows.”
LVCVA is in the process of sourcing the builder and installer of the booth, which will accommodate one-on-one appointments in board rooms and a client entertainment section, Messina says.
GRAND PRIX
Brett Taylor, senior operations manager of the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix, presented an update on construction for the race coming to Las Vegas in November. Five grandstands are going up, including the 1,660-foot main grandstand, and those in turns three and four. Work will start in late August on structures near the Sphere, and in late September for the Harmon Avenue grandstands.
Separately, the board certified that the economic impact of the LV Grand Prix would be at least $250,000 in order to meet special event designation under Nevada law. LVCVA President and CEO Steve Hill estimated the actual economic impact of the race to be around $1.3 billion. The designation allows organizers of special events to placetemporary advertising for concerts, sporting events, festivals and other events on highways and streets, Hill explained.
RATE INCREASE
In his monthly report, CEO Hill alerted directors about a proposed increase in Las Vegas Convention Center lease rates, setting a maximumrate that can be charged for exhibit space, that will be brought before the board in September.
Lease rates have not increased in the 5½ years Hill has served as CEO, and inflationary trends over the past few years have resulted in incremental price increases elsewhere, he told the board.
The rate increase would not take effect until 2026, following completion of the $600 million renovation of the convention center.
