As the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) continues its .3 billion expansion of the Las Vegas Convention Center and campus, competitors are wary of public funding for the project.
Officials for Las Vegas Sands and MGM Resorts International, which own the Sands Expo Center and the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, respectively, are wary of public funding going to the Las Vegas Convention Center, with which they compete directly as private enterprises.
Las Vegas Sands in particular has a history of opposing public funding for LVCVA projects, including calling for dissolution of the LVCVA in 1999, when the two were involved in a lawsuit. And LVCVA officials want public assistance for its 10-year plan to expand the Las Vegas Convention Center campus, including building a new World Trade Center to help drive more international participation in events.
LVCVA President and CEO Rossi Ralenkotter has cautioned that Las Vegas is a huge target for large venues and global destinations that want to knock Sin City out of position as the world’s top trade show destination.
Organizers of many of the largest events held at the convention center, such as the annual International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), say they are considering moving their events to other venues.
In recent years, Chicago, Los Angeles, Orlando, New York, New Orleans, and other top trade show locales have expanded and improved their convention centers and related facilities. And other cities, like Nashville, have built large, state-of-the-art convention centers or begun them to compete directly with Las Vegas.
While domestic competition is rising, so is international competition, with Singapore, China, Germany, and many other nations drawing more events as improved airline travel and communications capabilities continue shrinking the size of the global business world.
To do that, the LVCVA is expanding its 3.2 million-square-foot facility, which has the floor load rates and size to enable the largest events, such as MINE Expo, which features some of the world’s largest machines.
