Luxury limousine market growing in Las Vegas Valley

Wednesday, June 28, 2000 | 11:20 a.m.

Las Vegas' bid to host more corporate meetings and conferences has created a niche for luxury transportation needs being met by two growing companies.

The Alan Waxler Group, a destination management company which already has 12 luxury limousine coaches in its fleet, has received licensing approval from the Transportation Services Authority of Nevada to operate five Mercedes Benz sedans as well as its single Lincoln Navigator and one Lincoln Towncar. Waxler has two more of the S Class 430 Mercedes on order.

Waxler isn't strictly a transportation company. The company offers a variety of meeting logistics services, including transportation.

Meanwhile, Fox Limousine Charter, which operates only as a transportation operation, finally received TSA certification after managers worked 3 1/2 years to be licensed. The company is based in an 8,000-square-foot facility near the Interstate 15-Interstate 215 interchange.

Waxler's luxury coaches are reconfigured shuttle buses that effectively are rolling board rooms. Each vehicle has a specially customized suspension system, lounge seating, a video-cassette recorder with two television monitors and a bar and coffee station aboard. Waxler uses the vehicles for private transport for the destination management company.

The new limousines authorized in May by the TSA are the first Mercedes vehicles offered for public conveyance in Las Vegas, said Alan Waxler, chief executive officer of the company.

By receiving TSA certification, Waxler can now offer limos for hire to the public for airport and casino runs through AWG Charter Services. The luxury coaches were an amenity offered within the destination management company, which doesn't have to be certified by the TSA.

Waxler, who formed the Alan Waxler Group in 1996, has specialized in a small high-end niche of Las Vegas business travelers, providing a variety of services for clients who conduct corporate meetings in the city.

"Our prices are higher than most companies in town," Waxler said. "But it's because we offer more."

Limousine services are $125 an hour, compared with the industry standard of $65 an hour. One example of the luxury treatment is the smooth ride of the vehicles. The luxury coaches have suspension systems built for ambulances and modified for Waxler by Krystal Coach of Brea, Calif.

Waxler said the Mercedes is the superior limousine product on the road.

Waxler also said he pays higher wages to drivers -- which he refers to as "VIP hosts" -- to attract good employees. The company has 20 drivers and 14 employees and recently has moved into new headquarters at 3285 W. Tompkins Ave. The business expanded from 1,800 square feet to more than 8,700 square feet at its new location.

Another company that has moved operations is Fox Limousine Charter, which just moved into its new facility at 7180 S. Industrial Road.

The signature vehicle of the Fox fleet is a 30-foot sports utility vehicle limousine that initially was acquired as a promotional tool.

"We figured we'd display it at trade shows to draw attention to the company," said Steve Cunningham, owner of Foxer Limousine Charter. "We didn't realize how popular they'd be. Now we have four in the fleet. It's been a pleasant surprise."

Cunningham recently hired Rich Cooley, a vice president with Carey International, Washington, D.C., to serve as president of the Las Vegas operation.

Carey, one of the leading transportation companies nationwide with operations in most major U.S. cities, including Phoenix where it franchises an operation Cunningham has there, doesn't have an ownership role with Fox in Las Vegas.

Cunningham has built his Phoenix operation into that city's largest and had the limousine contracts for the National Football League's Super Bowl XXX game in 1996 and the National Basketball Association All-Star Game in 1996.

Because Phoenix has more five-star resorts that Las Vegas, Cunningham figures he is experienced and ready to grow as Las Vegas evolves into a better convention venue.

Cunningham has observed the shift in Las Vegas as a business and convention destination from a one-dimensional leisure destination and seen that there is plenty of opportunity in that niche. With convention facilities expanding in Las Vegas, Fox is poised to double its fleet size by fall.

"Corporate America is discovering Las Vegas at about the same time Las Vegas has found that it needs to be corporate America," Cunningham said.