No slowdown seen in LV despite terror warning

Monday, Feb. 10, 2003 | 10:58 a.m.

Visitors to Las Vegas generally either didn't know or didn't care that the federal government raised the national terror alert to its second-highest level on Friday.

Although security was stepped up on the Strip when U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft announced "an increased likelihood" of attacks on Americans at home or abroad, tourism experts in Las Vegas insisted the city was a safe place to have good time.

"With more than 7,000 uniformed security personnel in the resort corridor and an excellent relationship between us and the FBI and Metro, the Strip has to be one of the safest places to be," said Tim Donovan, president of the Las Vegas Security Chiefs Association, which participates in the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF).

Donovan said the JTTF has refined its communications network so that security personnel up and down the Strip are notified of changing conditions within minutes.

"Nobody is sitting on information," Donovan said. "As I get it, it's disseminated to every casino from the (California) state line to Mesquite."

He added that security officers had been specially trained in handling terrorist threats even before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the East Coast.

Donovan added that information from federal officials did not indicate Las Vegas was any more vulnerable than any other potential target.

"We're looking more closely at things today than we did yesterday, but we also have been apprised that there is no credible threat to any local area, nor to the United States," Donovan said.

Although Las Vegas has received no specific threat, experts have said the resort city could be a potential target as a symbol of American excesses. In addition, Ashcroft specifically noted that apartment buildings, hotels or other "lightly secured targets" in the United States could be vulnerable.

A spokeswoman for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority said that while some hotels across the nation may a be lax in security, Las Vegas' resorts are different because of the amount of cash that is on the premises of most properties.

"Our hotel security differs from most other city hotels because in most of them, there are cameras throughout the building," said Erika Brandvik, a spokeswoman for the LVCVA. "To be perfectly frank, it's the direct result of having all the cash on hand at the hotels' casinos. Hotels have to have their own security staffs and (the city's) eye-in-the-sky security systems have cameras all over. Everything is being watched."

Brandvik also noted that nothing specific has been implied as a threat against Las Vegas, "so things are continuing, business as usual for us."

Some hotel properties, such as the Bellagio and The Venetian hotel-casinos, have had enhanced security measures for months. Security personnel at those properties stop and examine vehicles and order some car trunks opened before they're allowed into their parking garages. MGM MIRAGE, owner of the Bellagio, acknowledged that security has been increased following Ashcroft's announcement.

"In accordance with our security plan, which was developed in cooperation with local, state and federal authorities, we have implemented a heightened level of security at each of our properties," the company said in a statement issued Friday afternoon. "While we hope that none of these measures will inconvenience our guests, we are confident that they will support this effort to protect their safety."

Las Vegas travel agents who help assist inbound tourists said the heightened alert status didn't result in any cancellations.

John Berman, director of leisure sales at Prestige Travel, said the call volume at his branch offices was about the same Friday as it was Thursday.

"I would have expected to see some (cancellation) calls under the circumstances," Berman said. "But we have not had one call from any of our branches regarding inbound cancellations."

Berman said he suspects most visitors expect they'll be safe -- but aren't really thinking too much about it.

"When there's a deal out there," Berman said, "they'll think more about that than safety."

Donna Steele, a cruise and travel specialist with Carlson Wagonlit Green Valley Travel, said her office didn't get any cancellation calls, but her office has received its fair share of inquiries about what could happen in the future.

"They're asking things like, 'If war breaks out, can I get a refund?' or what will happen to their deposits," Steele said. "They ask about (U.S.) State Department policy on certain countries."

She said her bookings indicate a clear preference by Americans to stay close to home.

"We're seeing a big switch on commitments," Steele said. "We're seeing interest in Alaska, Hawaii and Mexico, as opposed to overseas destinations."

But she added that cruise ship lines and overseas destinations are taking terrorist threats just as seriously as the United States. She said on a recent cruise she took in Europe, guards in wetsuits routinely patrolled the waters around the ship to keep watch for suspicious activity.