Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2005 | 10:57 a.m.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority isn't satisfied just being No. 1.
The quasi-public agency that markets the Las Vegas destination to the world announced plans Tuesday to keep the city ahead of aggressive competitors in leisure and business travel for years to come.
LVCVA President and Chief Executive Rossi Ralenkotter outlined a five-year Vision Plan that includes a bid to bring 43 million people to the city by 2009 -- a 16 percent boost, increase the city's market share of major trade shows from 15 percent to 20 percent, attract 6.3 million international visitors and spend $400 million to refurbish the Las Vegas Convention Center.
The LVCVA board of directors unanimously approved the Vision Plan without debate.
Ralenkotter and his executive staff now will begin implementing different aspects of the plan, including budgeting for capital expenses and developing detailed master plans.
Ralenkotter and two consultants spent about an hour outlining the plan in a slick media presentation that was part of the LVCVA board's monthly meeting.
"Las Vegas is already No. 1, and we had a record 37 million visitors in 2004," Ralenkotter said. "This plan will help us stay ahead of some aggressive competition and continue to be the nation's No. 1 travel destination."
The LVCVA plans to do that by continuing to market and advertise the destination worldwide and by upgrading the Convention Center with additional meeting rooms and a multipurpose general conference center. Ralenkotter said the board would see plans for the convention center project by March and, if approved, engineering and financing packages would be developed by the first quarter of 2006. Construction is expected to take 2 1/2 years.
Craig Skiem of LVCVA consultant Convention, Sports & Leisure International, said that while the Las Vegas Convention Center has many pluses, it doesn't have a dedicated general conference center to accommodate speakers and large groups. Whenever a convention needs such a facility now, the LVCVA cordons off and exhibition hall, builds a stage and hauls in hundreds of chairs to accommodate large crowds.
Skiem also said the Convention Center lacks an adequate number of small meeting rooms. Other weaknesses include distinct entry points and circulation corridors to help conventioneers move between the north, central and south halls, he said.
The LVCVA's $400 million plan addresses all those shortcomings.
Under Ralenkotter's proposal, a general conference center would be built as a second floor addition above existing exhibition space in the central hall.
More meeting rooms would be built directly over Desert Inn Road, in essence creating a tunnel for traffic on the city street.
Additional circulation corridors also are planned and a climate-controlled connector would be built linking the Convention Center monorail station with the south hall. The LVCVA also hopes an architecturally attractive signature entry design will be developed and built along the structure's fagade.
In addition, the LVCVA is planning a free-standing administration building that would double as a substation for Metro on the northwest corner of Joe W. Brown and Desert Inn.
Ralenkotter said after the presentation that he doesn't expect the major improvements at the Convention Center to generate any controversy, since the entire Las Vegas destination benefits from the LVCVA's efforts to attract new business to the city and some of the shows the agency recruits go to other venues, like the Sands Expo Center and the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.
When the LVCVA built the south hall expansion in the late 1990s, Las Vegas Sands officials sued the LVCVA for using public funds to develop competitive convention space.
Representatives of Las Vegas Sands and the Mandalay Bay Convention Center could not be reached for comment on whether they would object to public money being used to finance improvements to the Convention Center.
The LVCVA's Vision Plan also incorporates strategies to attract more foreign and domestic tourists.
Domestically, the LVCVA intends to continue with its successful "Vegas Stories" campaign that uses the tagline "What happens here, stays here." A new ad that already has begun being used was shown at the presentation. It depicts several Las Vegas visitors -- many of them characters from the previous ads -- doing things on an airplane leaving the city. One of the characters is shown destroying a videotape, apparently discarding evidence of his Las Vegas mischief.
Ralenkotter announced that the LVCVA is expanding the number of U.S. advertising markets the city will target. Currently, the city advertises in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, Chicago and New York. The agency plans to add Seattle, Denver, Detroit, Atlanta, Miami, Philadelphia and Boston to the mix.
The agency gave its usual cautionary warning message about increased competition from tribal casinos in California and other nearby states and how the spread of legalized gambling is whittling away Las Vegas' dominance.
But Tuesday, Ralenkotter issued another warning about a potentially tough competitor -- the cruise ship industry.
"People have the same reasons to go on a cruise ship as they do to go to Las Vegas," Ralenkotter said. "To escape."
He said he fears some vacationers will make a decision to either take a cruise or come to Las Vegas and he doesn't want to be on the losing end of that decision. He said cruise lines and other gaming venues outspend Las Vegas by a 6-to-1 margin, which is why the agency wants to continue to generously fund its advertising budget.
Ralenkotter also said the agency plans to initiate its first consumer advertising campaigns in international markets. Currently, the LVCVA works almost exclusively with travel agents and travel agency publications in the international markets in which it operates.
Now, the LVCVA will market the Las Vegas brand to consumers in Great Britain, Japan, Canada and Mexico and it plans to continue its market development strategy with travel agents in Germany, France, Italy, Korea, China, Australia and in parts of South America.
Under special events goals, Ralenkotter said the LVCVA plans to secure a contract extension with the National Finals Rodeo and convince NASCAR to stage a fall race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The second consultant in Tuesday's presentation was Jeremy Aguero, principal analyst of Las Vegas-based Applied Analysis.
His company analyzed whether the LVCVA had the financial muscle to undertake some of the projects it plans.
"I can answer that with one word: Yes," he said.
He said while Las Vegas must be wary of terrorist actions and catastrophic events, competitive forces and expansion and development costs, the city will attract more than $186 billion in visitor spending between the 2005 and 2009 fiscal years, while outlaying about $1.29 billion for its various programs.
In addition to the presentation of the Vision Plan, the LVCVA board got a new member, swore in a second to a new term and elected and swore in new officers.
Joining the board was Clark County Commissioner Tom Collins, replacing Mary Kincaid-Chauncey, while County Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates began a second term.
New LVCVA officers include Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, who succeeds Henderson Mayor James Gibson as chairman. Board member Robert Forbuss is continuing as vice-chairman and Gibson will become secretary-treasurer.
"You know I'm not a professional politician," Goodman said. "I'm truly humbled by this vote to lead a group that I consider the engine that drives this community."
"You may not be a professional politician," quipped board member Don Snyder after the remark, "but you bring amateurism to a new level."
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