Las Vegas convention centers ready to compete

Monday, April 8, 2002 | 11:13 a.m.

Though Las Vegas faces some stiff competition from new and expanding convention venues, local experts say the city's own convention center growth has helped make it as aggressive as any rival.

"Our major competitors are in the midst of some ambitious expansions," said Rob Powers, a spokesman for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. "That's one of the reasons why we have expanded on a regular basis since 1959 when we first built the Las Vegas Convention Center."

The most recent expansion for the Convention Center was completed in January -- a two-story, 1.3 million-square-foot hall that cost $180 million to build.

Another convention center will open next January when the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino unveils its 1.8 million-square-foot convention center.

The company already has a monthly electronic newsletter dedicated to the new building and has announced the signing of seven trade shows and association meetings there next year.

Among the shows: Symbol Technologies, Aqua International, the Redken Symposium, the Western Veterinary Conference, the International Solid Surfaces Fabricators 2003, the Professional Retail Store Maintenance Association and Dr Pepper/Seven-Up.

Mandalay Bay, like its counterparts at the Sands Expo Center and the LVCVA, is taking an aggressive approach to selling the city.

One of the LVCVA's biggest battles is being waged to attract the Electronic Entertainment Exposition, a show that has been staged in Los Angeles for seven of its eight years of existence. Organizers of E3, as it's known in the convention industry, have delayed a decision on whether to move the 50,000-delegate show for high-tech computer game producers to Las Vegas.

E3 organizers, recently wined and dined by LVCVA executives at a resort overlooking the city, marveled at the fact all of their conventioneers could be accommodated within the same ZIP code if they met in Las Vegas -- something that's impossible for the show in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles is countering with another offer, so the battle continues.

Powers and Sands Expo Center spokesman Kurt Ouchida have noted Las Vegas is well positioned to take on the challenges of any up-and-coming convention venue.

"One of the things that has given us a huge competitive advantage is the billions of dollars that the resort industry has invested in the city's infrastructure," Powers said. "They're continuously improving the dining, the shopping, the golf, the health spas and the special events. That's a huge factor in Las Vegas being a leader."

"There really is only one Las Vegas experience," added Ouchida, whose Sands Expo Center and Venetian hotel-casino properties host about 34 major shows a year, including 20 TradeShow 200 events, the nation's 200 largest meetings and conventions.

"When you combine the number of world-class attractions the town holds, from first-class entertainment to fine dining to renowned shopping to luxury hotel accommodations, you run into a situation that's hard to compete with," Ouchida said.

"Combine that with 11 out of 12 months of sunshine ... it's hard not to get enthusiastic about our outlook."