Governor’s conference would be a low-key affair, if it happens

By Richard N. Velotta (contact)

Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Gov. Jim Gibbons

Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki

It’s been an important gathering in Nevada for nearly 25 years. Now, since Gov. Jim Gibbons has taken over as the state’s chief executive, the Governor’s Tourism Conference has evaporated.

To be fair, it isn’t entirely Gibbons’ fault that economic hard times forced the cancellation of what would have been the silver anniversary conference last year. But many in the industry are wishing the governor would stand up for the state’s most important industry.

Much of the Nevada Tourism Commission’s actions are investments that pay dividends to the state in the long run.

Commission officials have said that for every dollar spent, the state gets more than $20 back.

But one expenditure the commission made that didn’t generate a return was the governor’s conference, a three-day gathering normally held in December, usually in Reno or Las Vegas.

When the bad economy started crushing the state, and Gibbons became determined to cut the budget, the conference became expendable. About the time Gibbons was considering a special legislative session last fall to plug budget holes, commission staff made the difficult decision to cancel the 2008 Reno event, which was to be a 25th anniversary celebration. It wasn’t the kind of message tourism officials wanted to send as it encouraged other convention sponsors to press ahead with their own events.

So what happens next?

At last week’s Tourism Commission meeting, Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki, the commission chairman, indicated a conference isn’t likely this year. Even Dann Lewis, the commission’s new director, said he was “appalled” by how much would have to come out of the budget to stage a conference.

But Krolicki didn’t close the door on having some kind of meeting. He suggested a smaller-scale and shorter “Governor’s Conference Lite” to at least get industry representatives together.

Krolicki said if such a gathering is in the cards, a decision would have to be made within a few weeks to organize it.

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McCarran International Airport will have a net loss of three flights a day from Southwest Airlines when the Dallas-based carrier, the largest operator at the Las Vegas airport, modifies its schedule in January and February.

Southwest will cut six round-trip flights, but add three to its Las Vegas schedule early next year.

On Jan. 10, the airline will add nonstop round trips to Baltimore and Salt Lake City, but delete one each to Albuquerque, Denver, Los Angeles, Seattle, St. Louis and Oakland, Calif.

On Feb. 11, Southwest will add a round trip to Buffalo, N.Y.

When the schedule changes are complete, Southwest will have five daily round trips to Albuquerque, three to Baltimore, two to Buffalo, eight to Denver, 12 to Los Angeles, nine to Oakland, seven to Salt Lake City, two to Seattle and three to St. Louis.

•••

Southwest’s new “EarlyBird Check-In” service will enable passengers willing to pay a price — $10 per one-way flight — to cut ahead in the boarding line.

The service, unveiled last week, allows customers to board just behind Business Select customers, those who pay a premium price for seats, and Rapid Rewards A-list passengers, the airline’s most frequent fliers.

Southwest does not assign passengers seats and people generally board in the order in which they get their boarding passes. Experienced Southwest travelers often log on to get their boarding passes as soon as they’re available, 24 hours before flight time.

But under EarlyBird Check-In, a passenger can pay the extra $10 until an hour before boarding passes are available.

Customers can access EarlyBird Check-in through a link on the “Travel Tools” section of southwest.com or from a confirmation page online or from confirmation e-mail.

Based on the experience Southwest had when it introduced Business Select, the airline estimates that the new service could generate $75 million a year, although some analysts say that’s conservative.

Versions of these stories appear in this week’s In Business Las Vegas, a sister publication of the Sun and on lasvegassun.com.