LV tourism industry busy for weekend

Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2004 | 11:29 a.m.

Despite every security checkpoint lane being staffed at McCarran International Airport on Monday, long queues of passengers waited up to two hours in line to get to their flights as the three-day Presidents Day weekend closed on a sour note for Las Vegas.

The city was packed for the weekend, with some comparing crowds to Super Bowl Sunday and New Year's Eve celebrations.

For McCarran and the city, the good news is that big crowds have returned. But the bad news is that when they all try to leave at the same time, there's chaos at the airport and on the highways.

While officials with the airport and the Transportation Security Administration say they are working to solve problems, both admit there's no relief in sight.

Nico Melendez, a spokesman for the TSA, said all 25 checkpoint lanes were in use Monday. McCarran is in the middle of a remodeling project that will add six lanes, but those won't be on line until November. And, in the meantime, additional passenger capacity should be available in August when 10 new gates open.

"Those new gates will increase demand at the airport," Melendez said. "When the new lanes open, it will provide minimal relief, but it won't solve the entire problem."

Melendez said there was no increased threat level and the only thing out of the ordinary was the large number of passengers trying to get to their flights.

"It was simply a capacity matter," Melendez said. "It's going to happen when you have a big holiday weekend."

McCarran spokeswoman Debbie Millett said this morning that the traffic flow was heavy both Sunday and Monday.

Millett said traffic was heaviest at McCarran's D gates, which now have 13 airlines using them. Passengers for American, AirTran, Frontier, Delta, JetBlue, Midwest, Northwest, Song, Spirit, Sun Country, Ted, United and US Airways were in "tremendously long lines," Millett said.

It's still too early to determine whether the city hit the projected forecast of 285,000 visitors over the long weekend. Most resorts reported they were at capacity.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority doesn't report weekend results, but all indications were that the city filled up.

Earlier this year, the LVCVA took the unprecedented action of issuing an apology to delegates of the International Consumer Electronics Show when people leaving that convention faced long lanes that led some people to miss their flights.

Kevin Bagger, head of research at the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, said prior to the weekend that the Presidents Day holiday is one of the biggest for the city because it's the first major three-day weekend after Christmas and New Year's holidays and there's plenty of pent-up demand to fill rooms.

Prior to the weekend, Bagger had projected hotel occupancy of 97.3 percent, up from 97.2 percent for the same weekend last year. The estimated visitor count was fractionally higher than the 283,000 people that were here in 2003.

The LVCVA projected a nongaming economic impact of $171.1 million for the weekend, up from $170.6 million last year.

Another factor that contributed to the heavy weekend crowds was that two moderately large conventions concluded Sunday. The Photo Marketing Association International show projected attendance of 30,000 people and Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show and Conference officials said 32,000 people were attending their show. Both were at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

In addition, a large number of people were in the city for the premiere performance Friday of pop star Elton John's "Red Piano" show at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace.

And, Valentine's Day Saturday brought out thousands of romantics.

Maureen Crampton watched with some amusement as male shoppers carried Victoria's Secret bags from the Forum Shops at Caesars over the weekend.

"I started thinking, 'Now who is that gift really for?' " said Crampton, marketing director of the mall. "I saw lots of gentlemen carrying Victoria's Secret bags on Valentine's Day."

While romantic gifts may have won the day for valentines on Saturday, thousands left the mall carrying a variety of bags over the weekend.

"It was pretty heavy by our standards," Crampton said of the mall and casino traffic at Caesars over the three-day Presidents Day weekend, which also included the popular Valentine's Day celebration.

Some resorts officials said that Valentine's Day not only is a draw for people wanting to get married, but is drawing people celebrating anniversaries for past Valentine's Day weddings.