Tourism stories you’ll be reading about in 2011

By Richard N. Velotta

Friday, Dec. 24, 2010 | 3 a.m.

Usually around this time, we glance backward at the year that was.

But we at In Business Las Vegas are all about looking ahead. We figure 2010 is in the rearview mirror and there’s nothing we can do about it now.

With that in mind, here’s one tourism commentator’s list of the Top 10 Southern Nevada tourism and gaming stories you’ll be reading about in 2011:

No. 10 — A new regulatory look. Some gaming industry observers saw the departure of Gaming Control Board Chairman Dennis Neilander coming. He’s been on the board since 1998 and told Gov.-elect Brian Sandoval’s staff last month that he wasn’t interested in be reappointed.

But what many didn’t see coming was the decision not to reappoint board member Randall Sayre.

Sayre, formerly head of the Control Board’s investigations division, is a no-nonsense regulator who used his law enforcement skills to ask the tough questions of licensees and applicants trying to skirt what is regarded as the best gaming regulatory environment in the world.

Sayre raised a few hackles with his handling of the industry’s oversight — or lack of oversight — of nightclubs and pools. With several incidences of drug use, underage drinking and public sexual activity, Sayre led the charge to clean up the clubs to help protect the industry’s reputation.

With Neilander and Sayre gone from the three-member board in 2011, it sets the stage for an inexperienced majority, although most observers are confident that Sandoval, a former gaming commissioner, made good selections in Shawn Reid, chief of investigations for the board, and A.G. Burnett, deputy chief of the securities division, whose names were forwarded to Gov. Jim Gibbons for appointment.

With several properties changing hands as a result of the economy and several revisions in regulations in the pipeline, it will be interesting to watch how that tier of regulation functions.

No. 9 — Las Vegas’ arena bid. As 2010 winds down, the latest proposal to build an arena appears to be headed to the courts.

In 2011, we’ll see if the arena proposal by Caesars Entertainment, which has demonized by MGM Resorts International, moves ahead or gets hogtied in court.

Although many critics say Southern Nevada doesn’t need another arena — especially one financed all or in part with public funds — new sports facilities have been proven economic drivers. They can house major entertainment and sports events, and building them could be a boost to the struggling construction industry.

A new arena appears to be a must if Las Vegas ever is going to attract a major league sports franchise. Local tourism leaders agree that although functional in its heyday, Thomas & Mack Center has a hard time competing with today’s state-of-the-art arenas that seem bent on stealing some of our city’s biggest events, such as the National Finals Rodeo.

Caesars proposal seemed to be the most likely to be successful, and the arena battle is likely to rage on in 2011 — if it doesn’t die in court.

No. 8 — Convention Center revamp. One project put on hold by the Great Recession was an overhaul of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority put the brakes on the project in 2008 in an effort to conserve money and not lay off employees.

But as the economy begins to rebound, there are signs that the authority may revisit plans to upgrade the Convention Center.

Executives said at a recent meeting that they would likely modify the original plans and rebrand the effort.

If it happens, it isn’t likely to surface until late in the year.

No. 7 — Authority strategy. The Great Recession has produced a new type of consumer, one who is more conscientious moneywise. “Value” is the key driver.

The authority has always been about research, willing to spend money to better understand the Las Vegas customer. With a new post-recession consumer becoming the future customer, the authority looked to find how it could get the most bang for the buck, determining that it should focus its advertising and marketing dollars on customers on the fence about whether they want to vacation in Las Vegas and on steady customers who may consider multiple visits.

The strategy is different because loyal customers and those who need a push are located all over the country. In the past, the authority focused a lot on customers within a day’s drive of Las Vegas. It will use new technology and social networks to reach those new-attitude consumers.

Like anything new, the strategy may be controversial — and it certainly will be worth watching.

No. 6 — Great convention year. It’s shaping up to be a good year for the meetings industry, and Las Vegas is ready to take advantage.

January, always a big convention month with the International Consumer Electronics Show kicking things off, will be even bigger this year with a new customer, the International Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigerating Exposition, arriving Jan. 31 at the Convention Center.

The new show will bring in 40,000 delegates, and the authority is working to get a long-term contract with the group.

CES is scheduled to bring 126,000 people to Las Vegas, and January alone will have the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoors Trade Show (55,000 attendees), World of Concrete (55,000) and the World Market Center winter meeting (50,000).

The biggest show of the year occurs March 22-26 when the ConExpo-Con/Agg 2011 is held. The massive construction industry show, scheduled to draw 140,000 people, will have some pent-up demand since many delegates couldn’t get to a show in Europe last year because flights were canceled by Iceland’s volcanic eruption.

I’ll have more on upcoming conventions next week.

No. 5 — The legislative session. Although most of the focus on next year’s legislative session will be on how to manage a $3 billion difference between revenue and expenses, the tourism industry will have to keep watch on how lawmakers will treat the Nevada Tourism Commission.

Two years ago, lawmakers contemplated consolidating it with the Nevada Economic Development Commission. They battled to stay separate because their missions are so different.

But with a $3 billion hole, the consolidation card may be played again and Tourism Commission is operating with an interim director since the resignation of Dann Lewis last month.

At the Governor’s Conference on Tourism, I asked several industry representatives about whether it would make sense to consolidate tourism with the state parks. It seems the tourism marketing wing of the state would be a good fit, encouraging tourists to visit state parks.

The parks have a lot of other expenses — maintenance and salaries come to mind — that would need to be addressed, but having one administrative director over the two agencies would be a better fit than blending Tourism with Economic Development.

Lawmakers have a big job ahead of them, and the tourism industry isn’t likely to be at the top of any of their lists of groups to save from massive cuts.

No. 4 — Southwest Airlines. The busiest air carrier at McCarran International Airport is one of the busiest in the airline industry.

Southwest is in the middle of an acquisition of AirTran; will begin service to Newark, N.J., and two cities in South Carolina; has ordered some larger aircraft capable of flying from the West Coast to Hawaii or from the South to the Caribbean; has begun rolling out in-flight Wi-Fi service; and is about to revamp its popular Rapid Rewards loyalty program.

A lot of that will make big news for Southwest, but because Las Vegas is the airline’s biggest station and more than 40 percent of McCarran flights are on Southwest planes, anything having to do with the company is going to have an effect on the local tourism economy.

No. 3 — Allegiant Air. Although Southwest is the biggest player at McCarran, Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air is growing and may become one of the five busiest carriers at McCarran in 2011.

Allegiant has been profitable during the airline industry’s big slump and it has quietly become a force in Las Vegas as well as in small cities across the country.

The airline is ending 2010 with a bang, taking on New York-based discount carrier JetBlue on a route between Las Vegas and Long Beach, Calif. JetBlue retaliated and a fare war emerged, with consumers able to buy round-trip tickets to Long Beach for under $60.

Will Allegiant be able to maintain the pace? What other cities are going to see Allegiant’s sunburst logo at their airports? How will Allegiant mitigate growing consumer discontent with add-on costs like baggage fees — a strategy the airline has championed in the past two years? Would Allegiant join Spirit Airlines in trying to charge passengers for carry-on bags they bring on flights?

And what about Hawaii? Allegiant pushed back plans to begin flying there from the West Coast to 2012. The airline still hasn’t announced what Hawaii airports are involved and from where it would fly the new Boeing 757 jets it is acquiring.

Maybe we’ll learn more in 2011.

No. 2 — Slow recovery. Economists said 2010 would see a s-l-o-w recovery year. And they were right.

In all likelihood, that pattern will continue in 2011 and the tortoise-race pace will likely be in all the headlines about visitor volume, gaming revenue, average daily room rates and occupancy.

The slow recovery is undoubtedly frustrating for all of Las Vegans who are used to seeing things happen quickly. Remember how fun it was to count construction cranes in the skyline?

The think tanks and study groups will approach the Legislature with their plans for diversifying the economy — a worthy goal that will take a long time to accomplish.

We’ll see that slow, steady rise and some say it will be the same story again in 2012.

No. 1 — DesertXpress. For everybody who says, “Just build it, already,” for a high-speed rail line between Las Vegas and Southern California, it looks like 2011 is going to be your year.

The last word from the developers of the DesertXpress between Las Vegas and Victorville, Calif., is that the company is on the verge of getting the last of its environmental clearances to begin engineering the route.

If all goes as planned, there should be a groundbreaking in 2011. But don’t buy your tickets just yet. The system isn’t expected to be operating until 2014.

In a somewhat surprising development, DesertXpress’ top executive, President Tom Stone has retired from full-time service. How that would affect progress on building the system is unclear, but the company has several people to move the project forward, including Andrew Mack, chief operating officer.

High-speed transportation between Los Angeles and Las Vegas has been a dream in Southern Nevada for decades. Although there have been a number of false starts, technology debates and arguing about the viability of building a train to Victorville instead of the Los Angeles, DesertXpress appears to be a reality as soon as the final environmental impact statement and records of decision are recorded.

Meanwhile, backers of maglev technology are waiting to see what, if anything, changes in the state’s support under the Sandoval administration.

Gov. Jim Gibbons has been a supporter and the Nevada Transportation Department has been frustrated in its efforts to get answers from the Federal Railroad Administration about its proposals with the California-Nevada Super Speed Train Commission, which is working with the American Magline Group.

Ground will be broken on a maglev this week — in Beijing. The 20-kilometer line is expected to be operational by 2012.

So much for President Barack Obama’s desire to see the fastest train in the world built on American soil.