By Richard N. Velotta

Mon, Mar 18, 2002 (10:57 a.m.)

The city's hotels will be full this week and many resorts will be charging their guests maximum rates as the largest convention in more than a year arrives in Las Vegas this week.

ConExpo-Con/Agg, an international exposition for the construction industry, is expected to draw more than 100,000 people to the Las Vegas Convention Center Tuesday through Saturday.

As of last week, 87,000 people had pre-registered for the show.

For the city's hotel-casinos, the show couldn't have come at a better time. Even before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the convention industry had been sluggish with businesses trimming travel and expense budgets in a weakened economy. The attacks took another bite out of attendance at two technology trade shows, Comdex and the Consumer Electronics Show in November and January, respectively.

ConExpo-Con/Agg, which produced a nongaming economic impact of $153.4 million on the Las Vegas economy when it was last here in 1999, has a strong following because the show occurs only once every three years.

"This really is the show to come to if you are in the construction industry," said Dennis Slater, the show's co-managing director. "There are a lot of product introductions that take place at this show. They (the new products) come in here under tarps until the show opens."

Because the show only occurs every three years, there's more urgency to attend, Slater said. And, because there are so many exhibitors -- 2,100 are expected this year -- and their machines are so large, the exhibit space is the largest of any trade show in the world. In fact, much of it is outdoors, in the parking lots of the Convention Center.

The outdoor exhibits turn the area around the center into a forest of cranes and skyscraper construction materials.

An area equivalent to the size of 41 football fields -- 1.84 million square feet -- will be used to display construction equipment and materials. The show will fill the entire convention center, including both floors of the south hall expansion.

Because of the types of exhibits on display, organizers had to consider the weight of some equipment in determining what would be on the second floor of that building.

Show organizers determined that the second floor of the building would house the International Exposition for Power Transmission, a group that is exhibiting with ConExpo-Con/Agg for the first time. Hydraulic, pneumatic, electrical and mechanical components, systems and controls will be shown as part of the IFPE component.

In fact, there are nine other organizations conducting their annual conventions in conjunction with the ConExpo 2002. That's another reason why attendance isn't expected to fall off as it has in other trade shows.

Peter Vlahos, co-managing director of the show, said ConExpo has had long-term commitments with Las Vegas and its hotels for years and in 2002, the organization has pre-booked 121,000 room nights at 36 hotels. The largest number of advanced bookings has been made for midweek stays, with 22,436 on Wednesday, the peak night.

Vlahos said ConExpo reserved those rooms and, as of last week, 87 percent of them had been bought by conventioneers.

Rates reserved by ConExpo are on the high end: standard rooms are going for $219 at the Las Vegas Hilton, $213 at Caesars Palace, $139 at the Hard Rock hotel-casino and $109 at Circus Circus.

Of the 87,000 people that have pre-registered, nearly 11,000 are international delegates. Vlahos said large contingents are coming from China, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. There are even 12 registered from as far away as Mongolia.

Many of the international delegates have never been to Las Vegas, Vlahos said, giving the city an opportunity to market to new clients.

Vlahos said those attending the show represent a good gaming profile. Most delegates are purchasing decision makers and entrepreneurs who gamble on multimillion-dollar construction contracts every day, he said. Many of the largest companies in the construction industry will be represented at the show -- John Deere Commercial Products Inc., Komatsu America International Co. and Caterpillar Inc. among them

Nancy Murphy, who heads the LVCVA's conventions and meetings sales group, said trade shows that involve blue-collar industries have been very strong in the face of weaknesses attributed to the terrorist attacks.

"Shows like this have really held together well," Murphy said, also citing December's National Autobody Congress as a convention that delivered above-average numbers after the attacks.

Murphy said ConExpo is locked into appearances in Las Vegas every three years through 2023.

The show continues a series of large conventions that have come to Las Vegas since January and the pattern will continue through May.

In April, the National Association of Broadcasters is expected to bring 90,000 people to Las Vegas. That group will be followed in May by Networld + Interop, a technology show that in the past has drawn about 80,000 people but is only forecasting 60,000 this year, and the International Council of Shopping Centers, which is expected to draw 30,000 conventioneers this year.

Earlier this year, CES was the first show to use the new expansion and the Super Show, a convention of sporting goods companies, met at the Sands Expo Center. The Men's Apparel Guild in California, a major fashion industry convention, met in Las Vegas in February.

Although the big shows garner most of the attention, Murphy said she has been enthused with the LVCVA's success at conducting multiple shows at the convention center, a luxury afforded by the completion of the expansion.

"We've had 22 shows in the new building since it opened," Murphy said. "For us, that's huge."