Tourism

Apartments being demolished for Convention Center parking lot: Tuesday, May 14, 2013; By Richard N. Velotta; The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is spending $5 million to buy a 3.3-acre lot on Sierra Vista Drive and will convert it into a parking lot and staging area for the nearby Las Vegas Convention Center.

Confusing tourism and immigration: Monday, May 13, 2013; International visitors caught up in domestic dispute; By Richard N. Velotta; The battle over immigration reform could get heated, and local tourism leaders hope the federal government’s efforts to reduce visa wait times aren’t lost in the shuffle.

LVCVA teams up with Bravo's 'Watch What Happens Live' for Las Vegas-themed episode: Thursday, May 9, 2013; By Andrea Domanick; The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is teaming up with Bravo in a content-partnership effort to help promote Las Vegas as a travel destination.

Flat-rate zones deserve a chance: Monday, May 6, 2013; Taxi industry not happy with oversimplified study, but long-hauling remains an issue; By Richard N. Velotta; After last month’s blowup over the Legislative Counsel Bureau’s taxicab long-hauling audit, just about everybody is ready to give flat rates a shot. But if the taxi industry has anything to say about it — and you know it does — we won’t see flat rates anytime soon.

Jim Murren talks online poker, MGM's park on the Strip and the Rolling Stones: Friday, May 3, 2013; the strip:; By Richard N. Velotta; MGM Resorts International reported its best quarter in five years Thursday. Chairman and CEO Jim Murren reflected on the good news and looked ahead to MGM's next big task: developing an outdoor dining, retail and recreation plaza on the Las Vegas Strip.

Domestic air traffic down, foreign travel up in March at Las Vegas airport: Monday, April 29, 2013; By Richard N. Velotta; Passenger traffic at McCarran International Airport was flat in March compared with a year ago, with strong international and air tour operations offsetting a slight dip in domestic travel to Las Vegas. The Clark County Aviation Department reported 3.7 million passengers in March, a 0.7 percent increase over last year. For the first quarter, traffic was down 1.4 percent to 9.8 million passengers.

Canadian snowbirds flying north: Monday, April 29, 2013; Marketing to neighbors north of the border can pay off for Southern Nevada; By Richard N. Velotta; Wave goodbye, for now, to some of Nevada’s best tourists. Las Vegas’ Canadian snowbirds are flying home.

Experts: Here's what Vegas needs to become a health care hub: Monday, April 29, 2013; Health care:; By Richard N. Velotta; When medical and tourism professionals from Southern Nevada got together years ago to plot a course to bring people to Las Vegas to treat their ailments, there were plenty of skeptics. Why would anybody come to a renowned adult playground for a medical procedure? Did Las Vegas really have enough quality physicians to be considered a medical tourism destination?

Las Vegas according to three governors: The fall of the mob, a land of prostitutes and potential terrorism risks: Saturday, April 27, 2013; By Richard N. Velotta; More than 150 people jammed a courtroom in the Mob Museum to hear former Govs. Bob List, Richard Bryan and Bob Miller recollect about Las Vegas' history. The presentation was part of the Mob Museum’s Courtroom Conversation series. The event was punctuated by a book signing by Miller, whose “Son of a Gambling Man” went on sale earlier this month.

Author strips down city to find 'Everyday Las Vegas': Saturday, April 27, 2013; Six questions:; By Brian Nordli; Urban geography professor Rex Rowley knows what it’s like to live in Las Vegas. He was a local. It wasn’t until he attended the University of Kansas that Rowley realized just how unusual it was that residents in a city identify themselves as a "local."

Ever get the feeling the Las Vegas cab industry is long-hauling regulators?: Wednesday, April 24, 2013; J. Patrick Coolican:; By J. Patrick Coolican; Welcome to Las Vegas. Now I’m going to steal $10 from you. That’s the message we’re sending to thousands of tourists every year who get in a cab at McCarran International Airport and are taken to their hotel the long way. At least when the hotels take the tourists’ money, it’s based on a bet whose odds are well known. But the cabbies are just flat-out stealing, and our political system is so inept that it refuses or is unable to act.

Virgin America's Los Angeles-to-Las Vegas flight isn't the fastest one Sir Richard Branson will see this week: Tuesday, April 23, 2013; Q&A:; By Richard N. Velotta; Virgin America doesn’t do anything halfway when it comes to promoting new service and amenities, and Monday’s launch of three daily flights between Los Angeles and Las Vegas was no exception. Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson is no stranger to Las Vegas. He’s known worldwide as an adventurer, entrepreneur and philanthropist, and on Monday, he took six questions from the Sun.

A lift for international tourism: Monday, April 22, 2013; Merger between American Airlines and US Airways could be good for Las Vegas; By Richard N. Velotta; If you merge one company named American with another named US, you might expect something really big for the United States. But for Las Vegas, the imminent merger between American Airlines and US Airways likely will have more international implications than domestic ones.

State slogan not a smash hit: Monday, April 15, 2013; The R.V. Column: ‘What happens here, stays here’ sets the bar too high for ‘A world within’ to clear; By Richard N. Velotta; With memories of the “What happens here, stays here” campaign fresh in people’s minds, many in the community waited with anticipation for the Nevada Tourism Commission’s new brand and catchphrase, which cost millions of dollars and has been in development for close to two years.

Despite criticism, state tourism officials hope new slogan will boost business: Saturday, April 13, 2013; Business:; By Richard N. Velotta; The director of the state Tourism Commission said that while many critics have pounced on Nevada's new tagline, she's confident the slogan will be embraced by residents and help attract tourists and businesses to the state.