Richard N. Velotta

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Story Archive

Casino venue in Singapore will have Las Vegas flavor: Friday, Nov. 27, 2009; The world's newest gaming venue will be halfway around the world, but a Las Vegas company will be in the center of the competition.
Allegiant defies aviation convention with 20 percent growth in sight: Friday, Nov. 27, 2009; In an industry buffeted by economic turbulence, Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air has found a tail wind, expecting 20 percent growth over the next four to five years.
Experts say online gaming in U.S. still a long shot: Friday, Nov. 27, 2009; A survey of 260 gaming industry professionals indicated most expect the legalization and regulation of Internet gambling in the United States would be the world’s top industry story in 2010.
G2E trots out server-based games (yawn), and little new content: Friday, Nov. 27, 2009; How appropriate it was for this year’s Global Gaming Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center to be parked next door to the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions.
In workplaces, even here, help can be hard to come by: Sunday, Nov. 22, 2009; If a co-worker has a few too many drinks during an after-work get-together, it’s common for a colleague to take his car keys away. Maybe the colleague or a supervisor will keep an eye on him for other telltale signs of alcohol abuse. But that isn’t the way it usually works with a gambling addict, panelists said at the National Center for Responsible Gaming’s conference on gambling and addiction last week at Mandalay Bay.
LV companies in denial about problem gambling: Friday, Nov. 20, 2009; If a co-worker has a few too many drinks during an after-work get-together, it’s common for a colleague to take his car keys away. Maybe the colleague or a supervisor would keep an eye on him for other telltale signs of alcohol abuse.
Veterans get Las Vegas salute at Venetian’s ‘wounded warrior’ event: Friday, Nov. 20, 2009; The Great Hall at the Venetian was lined with shouting, sign-carrying employees, but this was no organized labor demonstration.
Gaming regulators, manufacturers disagree on computer-code writers: Friday, Nov. 20, 2009; State gaming regulators and slot machines manufacturers are at odds over how Nevada should monitor independent contractors hired to write computer codes for new or updated machines.
Visitation figures finally up, but Las Vegas can’t start partying yet: Friday, Nov. 20, 2009; It has been awhile since Southern Nevada tourism leaders had anything to cheer about after months of visitor volume declines.
LV Chamber hires CEO recruiter to find successor: Friday, Nov. 20, 2009; The Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce has begun its search to replace longtime President and CEO Kara Kelley.
Gaming Commission OKs licensing for CityCenter’s Aria: Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009; MGM Mirage’s Aria hotel-casino, the centerpiece of the company’s $8.5 billion CityCenter development, was licensed by the Nevada Gaming Commission today. There were no surprises from the five commissioners who supported the application.
Threat seen to Nevada’s sports betting monopoly: State regulator says need for new revenue will force other jurisdictions to turn to wagering on athletics; Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009; Nevada will face competition for race and sports books, a state gaming regulator predicts.
Gaming Control Board recommends licensing of CityCenter: Friday, Nov. 13, 2009; MGM Mirage’s CityCenter cleared a major hurdle today as the state Gaming Control Board unanimously recommended licensing of the $8.5 billion development.
Auto shows get creative to drive attendance: Friday, Nov. 13, 2009; With the sluggish Las Vegas convention industry and the sputtering automotive industry, local tourism leaders were asking an important question last week: Just how good would this year’s Specialty Equipment Market Association show be for business?
Q&A: Patricia Becker: Executive director, UNLV’s International Gaming Institute; Friday, Nov. 13, 2009; The executive director of UNLV’s International Gaming Institute is a woman who has worn many hats in her three-decade gaming industry career.
IT entrepreneur thrives amid health care debate: Friday, Nov. 13, 2009; Las Vegas small-business man Russell Suzuki has had a great run in the past few months.
Rare split vote by Control Board advances Australian slot company: Friday, Nov. 13, 2009; A growing Australian slot machine manufacturer, hoping to make Las Vegas a base of operations for its North American distribution, cleared an important hurdle Nov. 4 when the state Gaming Control Board recommended a license and its registration as a public company.
New Cashman rate increases still won’t pay for cost of running center: Friday, Nov. 13, 2009; Although the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority board of directors raised rates at Cashman Field by 30 percent and parking there by 33 percent beginning Jan. 1, it projects the building will still be operating at a loss.
Get ready for sports book competition, regulator says: Friday, Nov. 13, 2009; Nevada will face competition for race and sports books, a state gaming regulator predicts.
Mayor dons cowboy hat as rodeo extends Vegas stay: Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009; Clark County Commissioner Tom Collins is no longer the only cowboy in local government. Collins, a fervent booster of all things western at commission meetings and before the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, was one-upped by Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman this morning when bull-riding legend Ty Murray presented Goodman with his cowboy hat as a token of appreciation.
Airport officials hope rivals will pick up US Airways' flight cuts: Friday, Nov. 6, 2009; US Airways’ announcement last week that it would cut more capacity at McCarran International Airport next year was a surprising development to tourism and aviation analysts, but not a knock-out punch, they say.
IMEX Group hopes meetings conference will have permanent home in Las Vegas: Friday, Nov. 6, 2009; Local tourism leaders have long touted the value of bringing meetings and conference planners to Las Vegas because the city leaves a big impression.
Q&A: Blake Sartini: Golden Gaming CEO; Friday, Nov. 6, 2009; Golden Gaming CEO Blake Sartini spent 15 years learning the ropes of the gaming industry at one of the city’s fastest growing companies.
Rail alliance names first routes, and LV-Reno ignored: Friday, Nov. 6, 2009; When Jacob Snow, the general manager of the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, shared the outline of a new group that calls itself the Western High-Speed Rail Alliance, many, including me, got pretty excited about the prospects, even though I figured the end result probably wouldn’t be something I’d see in my lifetime.
Control Board plans special meeting on Aria gaming license: Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009; Hopefully, the operator of CityCenter isn’t superstitious when it comes to getting its gaming license.
British Airways brings plenty of upside to Las Vegas: Friday, Oct. 30, 2009; Like many people, Willie Walsh decided to celebrate his birthday in Las Vegas, the party capital of the world.
Allegiant earnings solid; US Airways trims losses: Friday, Oct. 30, 2009; The parent company of a Las Vegas-based airline continues to roll despite challenging the recession, while another, the second busiest at McCarran International Airport, narrowed its earnings losses.
Southwest rolls out 'green plane' to show commitment to environment: Friday, Oct. 30, 2009; Southwest Airlines hopes to enhance its reputation for being green, as in profitable, by being “green,” as in environmentally responsible, with new initiatives that not only move the needle on sustainability, but should save it millions of dollars.
Tourism biz deals with flu fears: Friday, Oct. 30, 2009; Just as Southern Nevada has begun claiming some small victories in its rebound from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, along comes another potential setback: concerns over whether travelers would stay at home to avoid being exposed to persons carrying the H1N1 virus.
LV lands trade show aimed at meetings industry: Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009; IMEX, a major international exhibition for meetings and incentive travel professionals, will have a version in Las Vegas in 2011. The inaugural IMEX America is planned at the Sands Expo Center Oct. 11-13, 2011, and is expected to draw leaders in the U.S. meetings industry as well as representatives from convention centers and large hotels from across the country.
US Airways slashes McCarran flights: Second-largest carrier in Vegas will focus on more profitable markets; Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009; US Airways, once the busiest carrier at McCarran International Airport, will slice its schedule of 64 daily flights to 36 by the end of February.
British Airways begins non-stop flights from London to Las Vegas: Airline offering a $276 round-trip economy fares starting next month; Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009; The guest of honor was a late arrival to the party at McCarran International Airport’s international terminal Sunday night, but nobody cared.
Q&A: Somer Hollingsworth: President and CEO, Nevada Development Authority; Friday, Oct. 23, 2009; Longtime Las Vegas resident Somer Hollingsworth is president and CEO of the Nevada Development Authority, but it seems his favorite pastime is getting under the skin of California leaders trying to prevent businesses from leaving that state.
New British Airways flight will link LV with Europe, Middle East and Africa: Friday, Oct. 23, 2009; When British Airways makes its first 11-hour flight to McCarran International Airport, it will connect Las Vegas with more than just London.
Former Tropicana operator's Tahoe license approved: Friday, Oct. 23, 2009; Nevada Gaming commissioners didn’t hide the fact that they were a little nervous about granting a license to LV Casino LLC to operate Lake Tahoe Horizon Casino.
Some ideas to fix the Governor’s Tourism Conference: Friday, Oct. 23, 2009; The Governor’s Tourism Conference is broken. Can anybody fix it?
Southwest narrows third-quarter loss brought on by buyouts: Friday, Oct. 23, 2009; Dallas-based Southwest Airlines, the market leader at McCarran International Airport, narrowed losses in a third quarter that would have been profitable had it not been for a one-time charge related to early retirement buyouts.
Southwest Airlines to service new Florida airport: Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2009; DALLAS – Southwest Airlines will begin flying to northwest Florida next year when a new airport at Panama City opens in May.
Backers of less traditional high-speed projects air plans: Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009; Backers of three upstart transportation systems vying to be the ride of the future could all agree on one thing at a forum conducted Monday night at UNLV – it won’t be easy for them to be accepted by the public and by regulators when their ideas are so far from mainstream thinking.
Forum to highlight three futuristic rail projects to Calif.: DesertXpress, maglev aren’t the only ideas for high-speed trains; Monday, Oct. 19, 2009; We have all heard about the two high-speed rail proposals that promise to whisk passengers between Las Vegas and Southern California in little more than an hour, the steel-wheels-on-rails DesertXpress and the magnetically propelled maglev train.
Big hit in convention traffic cuts visitor volume again in August: Friday, Oct. 16, 2009; Convention attendance took a big hit in August, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority said, with the number of shows for the month down 22 percent over last year and attendance off 58.9 percent to 235,841.
Aviation industry eager for upgraded air-traffic control system: Friday, Oct. 16, 2009; In the early days of flying, when airplanes were contracted to move the U.S. mail, aviators used roads and rail lines to find their way across the country. Pilots would simply fly over established routes to their destination.
Unusual rail proposals not likely to challenge existing plans: Friday, Oct. 16, 2009; We have all heard about those two high-speed rail proposals that promise to whisk passengers between Las Vegas and Southern California in little more than an hour.
Southwest narrows loss in Q3 as revenue falls: Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009; Dallas-based Southwest Airlines, the market leader at McCarran International Airport, narrowed losses in a third quarter that would have been profitable had it not been for a one-time charge related to early-retirement buyouts.
Air traffic will rebound soon but slowly, analysis ﬁnds: Monday, Oct. 12, 2009; McCarran International Airport won’t fully recover from the current recession until at least 2014, a leading aviation expert says.
Dann Lewis, Director of the Nevada Tourism Commission: Monday, Oct. 12, 2009; You may have not heard of Dann Lewis, the recently appointed director of the Nevada Tourism Commission, but you have probably seen his work.
Q&A: Dann Lewis: Director of the Nevada Commission on Tourism; Friday, Oct. 9, 2009; While you may have never heard of Dann Lewis, the recently appointed director of the Nevada Commission on Tourism, you’ve probably seen his work.
Holding pattern: Expert sees slow recovery for McCarran: Friday, Oct. 9, 2009; McCarran International Airport won’t fully recover from the current recession until at least 2014, a leading aviation expert says.
Analyst sees bright spots for LV when CityCenter opens: Friday, Oct. 9, 2009; History has shown that the Las Vegas casino industry is resilient, particularly after the opening of new resorts.
Control Board looks at behavior issue in latest Hard Rock license: Friday, Oct. 9, 2009; Gaming regulators showed that they’re keeping vigilant on policing behavior at nightclubs and pool parties in Las Vegas.