Plans, room rates for CES 2010 already in high gear

By Richard N. Velotta (contact), In Business reporter

Fri, Jul 3, 2009 (3 a.m.)

Although it’s still six months away, preparations are well under way for the world’s largest consumer technology show.

The International Consumer Electronics Show returns Jan. 7-10 to the Las Vegas Convention Center. Technology professionals will get their first chance to register to see what is in store for the show when the CES Web site relaunches July 15.

CES will debut an “iLounge Pavilion,” a gathering place for aficionados of Apple’s iPhones and iPods at next year’s show. Tech zones and lounge areas are a hallmark of the show, and representatives of the Consumer Electronics Association, the sponsor of CES, are developing a wide range of specialized areas to meet the needs of exhibitors.

The show’s “Sustainable Planet” area dedicated to recycling and environmental concerns will be back and probably bigger than ever.

Tara Dunion, a spokeswoman for the association, said the rough economy has been a detriment to CES, but in general things look great for having a show that will be as good as ever.

Dunion said an audit shows 113,085 attended the 2009 show, slightly more than the 110,000 who had been estimated.

The number of exhibitors has leveled at about 2,700 with 300 new companies replacing the 300 that didn’t participate last year. An estimated 20,000 products were unveiled at the show that over the years has been the coming-out party for devices such as the VCR, big-screen televisions and TiVo.

The most recent show had 1.7 million square feet of exhibit space filling the Convention Center, a large portion of the Sands Expo & Convention Center and a portion of the convention areas at the Venetian.

Of the 113,085 attending this year’s show, 22,000 were delegates from 140 countries. The largest number of foreign guests came from Canada, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Great Britain, China, France, Taiwan, Germany, Hong Kong, Australia, Israel and Sweden.

The CES show stats not only solidify it as the world’s largest tech show, but also the largest trade show of any kind in North America.

Dunion said the attendance drop-off was because of companies sending fewer delegates, a common cost-cutting measure in the business community. That strategy is the reason that convention attendance in Las Vegas was down 5 percent in 2008 and 27.8 percent so far this year.

Dunion said the Consumer Electronics Association’s big push for the 2010 convention began as the doors were closing on this year’s gathering. While in town for the show, organizers were negotiating with hotels to arrange room-rate commitments. Later this month when the Web site goes live, the association will start closing deals on exhibition space and a variety of other options, including meeting rooms, booths and tech zone sponsorships.

Room rates were a sore point for CES two years ago when the economy was rolling and local resorts were getting the highest average daily room rates in Las Vegas history. CES executives took the problem public and threatened to look elsewhere to stage the show if the resorts didn’t ease back on rates. A number of resort officials said privately that they doubted that would ever happen since the show had grown so large it would be difficult for any other city to provide the number of rooms needed.

The issue evaporated when the economy chilled. Now, CES may be able to sell the fact that Las Vegas rooms have never been more affordable. And, on top of that, additional room inventory will come into the mix resulting in a never-before-seen convention room rate environment. Some early-bird room reservation rates are listed for companies looking for blocks of more than 10 rooms on a separate page on the CEA Web site.

New to the resort roster for 2010 will be CityCenter’s Aria with rates listed at $299 a night Thursday and Friday, the heart of the show, and $219 Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. A deluxe suite at Vdara, also at CityCenter, is listed at $264 for Thursday and Friday, $174 for Wednesday and Sunday and $194 for Saturday.

Of the 36 official CES hotels (there are some duplicates as some hotels are offering different rates in different portions of their properties), the least expensive is $27 at Circus Circus on Sunday night, the last day of the show.

The least expensive during the heart of the show is $80 at the Sahara. The most expensive: Aria, with Venetian suites a close second at $289 a night. The Renaissance Las Vegas near the Convention Center already is sold out all four nights.

The Web site also notes that Clark County’s room tax bounced from 9 percent to 12 percent as of July 1.

Lowest rates in a decade

Anthony Curtis, the Las Vegas guru of deals, notes in his most recent edition of Las Vegas Advisor that summer room rates in Las Vegas are at their lowest level in 10 years.

Curtis said 60 of 84 hotels surveyed recently had room rates of less than $49 a night.

Curtis makes phone calls, surfs the Web and reviews third-party sources to come up with his information. He notes that rates can change daily and some properties offer superspecials that go away quickly.

He has lists of properties with room rates under $20, $30, $40 and $50. He also notes that many of the higher-end properties have great deals that make them affordable to many who never thought about considering them.

His under-$20 list: Binion’s, Boulder Station, El Cortez, Fiesta Rancho, Four Queens, Gold Spike, Golden Gate, Hooters, Palace Station, Plaza, Sahara, Sam’s Town, Terrible’s, Texas Station, Vegas Club and Wild Wild West. You’ll have to hunt down a copy of the Advisor for the other lists.

If you’re tech-savvy, there are other deals to be had.

“The hipper resorts — think Planet Hollywood and the Palms — often give additional discounts to their Twitter and Facebook members,” Curtis wrote. “Just sign up to ‘follow’ a hotel’s Twitter feed if it has one, or as a ‘fan’ on its Facebook page, to keep abreast of the latest deals, including offers like ‘First 50 people to ReTweet this get an additional 30 percent off next weekend’s already discounted rate.’ Yep, we’ve seen offers like that over the past few months.”

Alaska, Frontier adding LV flights

Alaska and Frontier airlines are adding Las Vegas capacity, which always is good news for the local tourism industry, no matter how small.

Alaska will add a fourth weekly flight between Bellingham, Wash., and Las Vegas on Aug. 3. The Seattle-based airline last week began flying the route with three trips a week.

Bellingham, where Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air has a small base, is a great conduit for Canadian travelers who cross the border from British Columbia and in recent months have taken advantage of a favorable exchange rate on the U.S. dollar.

Frontier, meanwhile, is adding a seventh daily flight between Las Vegas and Denver beginning Sept. 14.

In the chase to win market share between Denver and Las Vegas, Frontier has six daily flights, United averages just more than nine a day and Southwest averages just more than 10.

It was also announced last week that Indianapolis-based Republic Airways Holdings is looking to buy Frontier and its Lynx Aviation subsidiary out of bankruptcy for $108.7 million and Milwaukee-based Midwest Airlines for $31 million.

Republic has no plans to scrap the Frontier brand.

More Dreamliner delays

Boeing had more disappointing news last week about its 787 Dreamliner, a jet some tourism experts think is an important piece of the puzzle of how the aviation industry could keep long trips to Las Vegas affordable.

Boeing announced more delays in the jumbo jet that would be manufactured using composite plastics.

The design would enable more comfortable cabin pressurization, leaving passengers more refreshed when their trip ends. The lighter plane also would be more fuel efficient to keep costs lower.

Some figured the plane could enable more international flying to Las Vegas some day.

Boeing hasn’t said what its new deadline for a first flight of the 787 would be, but with about 600 planes on order and no delivery date in sight, some airline customers are contemplating working with Airbus, which will offer similar technology in its A350 model.

Richard N. Velotta covers tourism, technology and small business for In Business Las Vegas and its sister publication, the Las Vegas Sun. He can be reached at 259-4061 or at rick.velotta@lasvegassun.com.