Optimism High For Return of Convention Business to Las Vegas reviewjournal.com

Slowly but surely, group business is returning to Las Vegas.

The city hasn’t hosted a large convention since March, and the next major trade show isn’t slated until June with the World of Concrete trade show. In the meantime, operators have had to be creative in finding ways to keep in touch with clients and make sure that those hosting events in Las Vegas can do so safely.

It seems as though those efforts are paying off, with local casino operators reporting strong convention bookings toward the end of this year.

“As we move forward with the vaccine rollout, we expect the second half of the year will start to ramp back up,” said Stephanie Glanzer, chief sales officer for MGM Resorts International. “I’m a strong believer that we’ll come out of this, and Las Vegas will remain the top destination.”

Small-scale events

Business travelers are among the most lucrative visitors in Las Vegas, spending 18 percent more than leisure travelers on average, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

But that source of revenue bottomed out in 2020.

The convention authority’s monthly visitor statistics say the city’s convention attendance count has been at zero or “not applicable” between March and January, its latest reported month. There have been some meetings and conventions in that time frame, but they’ve been too small to make the count.

MGM has hosted more than 200 smaller meetings and conventions since resorts started reopening in June. Several of those have been under its “convene with confidence” plan, a strategy meant to safely bring back meetings and conventions to the company’s U.S. properties through tools such as rapid, on-site COVID-19 testing.

“Small groups are happening and will continue to happen in the coming months,” Glanzer said. “We do believe large gatherings will come soon after (COVID-19 case) numbers get better.”

Caesars Entertainment Inc.’s Chief Sales Officer Michael Massari said the Reno-based company has hosted meetings at its properties almost daily since June, each operating under state capacity restrictions.

Public gatherings and events in Nevada had been limited to 25 percent fire code capacity, but the state began to ease restrictions on Feb. 15. Now, events can host up to 100 individuals, or 35 percent capacity, and venues eligible for large gatherings are capped at 20 percent of total fixed seated capacity with strict social distancing requirements.

Restrictions are set to loosen again on March 15. Businesses operating at 35 percent should be able to move to 50 percent capacity, and public gatherings will move to 250 people or 50 percent capacity.

Looking forward

It’s still unclear exactly when Las Vegas’ convention industry will return to pre-pandemic levels. Experts agree that it will likely be one of the last industries to see a full recovery, with international travel.

But the vaccine rollout has made a light visible at the end of the tunnel. Industry executives say they expect the convention business will start to bounce back later this year and early next year.

“We are optimistic (about) what we see on our books in the third and fourth quarter,” MGM Chief Operating Officer Corey Sanders said during a Feb. 10 earnings call. “Fourth quarter, we actually have more rooms on the books than we did the same time last year.”

Research shows that business travelers are itching to get back to in-person events.

A January study from the LVCVA found 91 percent of the 510 surveyed business travelers miss the face-to-face interactions that come with in-person conferences, conventions and trade shows. Fifty-eight percent said they felt burnt out from virtual business meetings and conferences.

For the full story visit: https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/conventions/optimism-high-for-return-of-convention-business-to-las-vegas-2291004/

-By Bailey Schulz Las Vegas Review-Journal